


There are More than Five Nights

by Fabuful



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen, Gender Ambiguity, I should put more tags here, Minor Character Death, Shipping will happen, Some Fluff, Swearing, Whether You Like It Or Not, but I don't know, this is going to be a long story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2018-12-09 18:36:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11674818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabuful/pseuds/Fabuful
Summary: An alternate plot for the Five Nights at Freddy's. After a horrible accident at Fredbear's and subsequent murder of six children, the franchise remodeled their animatronics, giving them both a friendly feel and complete sentience. Now, they must band together to face an old threat, and a new one too.





	1. The night shift

**Author's Note:**

> Welp. This exists now. I tried to make the summary as epic as I could, but now it's sounds a bit cheesy. Ah well. Thanks for reading my contribution to this fandom. I wanted to do some practice story writing without having to come up with the characters so I could focus on the plot. And then this happened. It's probably full of mistakes.
> 
> So enjoy my crappy writing! I hope I'll improve someday ^-^'

*Bleep* “Sir, I know we’re open for 24 hours, but you realize it is 3am, right?” The cashier pushed some buttons on his machine. The guy in front of him making the purchase was clearly not used to staying up late. He wore a security guard uniform that had plenty of wear. Maybe he’d never been on night shift. He seemed to be quite a bit older than himself. Mid-thirties maybe? That’s what the small creases near his eyes showed anyway. Unless it was just lack of sleep. He was having difficulty keeping his dark hair out of his eyes. Most of it was brushed into a ponytail, but strands had come loose and were busy making themselves a nuisance. The tag on his shirt read ‘Head of Security: Vincent Morris’. Though really he could have passed for some random hobo from the street.  
“Yeah, it’s 3am and I need a toaster.” Vincent grumbled. Stupid night-shift. Stupid broken toaster. Stupid shop attendant questioning his toaster shopping habits.

 

Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Not only was it the largest family restaurant in the state, but it also boasted robotics technologies that could put some of the most futuristic labs in the world to shame. It was run by a small team of business headed… people, who didn’t much care for the entertainment of children. At least in the sense that they never showed up to staff meetings. And never hired enough waiters and no janitors. However, Henry Ross, the original owner who had retired some nine years ago, had stumbled upon a young entrepreneur, and together they managed to develop an AI technology that could think for itself learn new skills by itself, even have real feelings. At least that was how the story went anyway.

 

Despite an extreme lack of concern from Henry’s son and successor, the business was incredibly successful. However this was only due to his younger sisters input, since Charlie was the only person on the team who seemed to give a damn. The name came from its head robotic entertainer. Freddy Fazbear. After the discovery of the AI and some other major technical upgrades, he was the poster child of this incredible wonderland. He was, as his name suggests, a bear. Or at least he was. Now he was updated to be less spooky for the younger children. He was near human. He had dark skin and neat hair that was occasionally hidden by his small top hat. He retained his ears, which he often complained made it impossible to do anything with his hair. He was always sharply dressed in a brown three piece suit with a black bow-tie. However despite how formal and neat he looked, he was actually surprisingly carefree. Unlike the small boy coming to greet Vincent at the door.

 

“Congratulations genius, you left your keys inside. If it weren’t for me bein’ here, you’d be stuck out in the rain, so I hope you’re happy.” Toy Bonnie was, to put it politely, a jerk. There were many ways to describe him that were impolite too. Toy Bonnie was supposed to resemble a brother for the children that came here. Since a lot of them were around the age of ten they’d made him about thirteen. He spoke with a strong southern twang. His hair was smartly brushed and lay just above his shoulders, with light blue rabbits ears standing to attention and twisting about like little satellite dishes. He wore a smart shirt under a pair of sky blue cotton dungarees. The legs of which were made short to help him walk, as he sported rabbits legs rather than human ones. This meant he was having trouble keeping up with the grouchy guard, despite walking as fast as he could on the digits of his feet. He kept checking them to make sure the velvety blue covering was not damaged.  
“Shut up. Shouldn’t you be busy fixing your eyeliner?” He remarked. Before he could protest Toy Bonnie was shoved aside.  
“Hey, you can’t go to the arcade! Newbie’s in there!”

 

At this he remembered the whole point of him being on night-shift this week. Fritz had been switched to the day shift to help out a few months ago and now they were getting a new night-guard. Mike was going to supervise him this week, so they needed someone extra on guard duty. It was only the first night, but he was regretting it already. Another night of this would kill him, let alone an entire week. There was a sort of rule that dictated that the animatronics had to do their best to scare any new person. They did it with Mike, Fritz and now Jeremy, the youngest guy they’d ever hired. The idea was that if anyone was scared by an animatronic then they’d fail the induction, because criminals are far scarier. But that wasn’t necessarily true, and nobody checked whether the results were true or not. So chances are they’d pass. He checked around the main office. Looks like Mike had left the computer on again. Oh well, his loss if it ends up coming out of his paycheck.

 

“Yaaaaass! Level 420, you can kiss my sexy mechanical ASS! Wooo!” Toy Chica was sat on the break room counter, screeching about her latest candy crush victory. She was a short girl that looked like she was around sixteen. This was further backed up by the phone she was waving around. She was as she was designed, pretty and sparky looking, with perfectly tanned skin and cropped blonde hair with streaks of bright chick-beak orange in her long side-fringe. Her outfit looked more or less like she was going to a rave. She had a tank top on which showed far too much midriff reading ‘Let’s Party!’ in a bright and colorful font, surrounded with little pizza shaped chunks of confetti. Accompanying this was a wide selection of wristbands and fake glow sticks, as well as a pair of pink booty shorts. She’d also recently acquired a new pair of trainers, orange to match her chicken theme, and hadn’t taken them off since. 

 

“Jesus Christ could you be any louder?” Vince sighed at her.  
“Uh oh, someone’s in a grumpy grump mooood! Come on V; turn that frown upside-down!” She chirped. He took some bread from the cupboard and stuffed it into the two slots, “Funny, the only way I can do that is break my own neck… what a great idea!” He waved his hands in sarcasm. Usually he was quite talkative, especially with the girl animatronics. For him they were far nicer to talk to, and he could sob over old Disney movies with them without fear of being judged. It did of course lead to the inevitable digs from his fellow guards, but it was a small price to pay to be able to sing ‘a whole new world’ at the top of his lungs. Today though he was already tired and wanted to go home. He thought about asking to borrow Mangle’s bed. Then he realized how much of a creep he would sound. Even though she was so pretty… He had a case of love-sickness. It didn’t matter, he’d get over it. The floor creaked for a moment.

 

Then the door opened to a bored young man and his new subordinate. Both were dressed in a similar uniform to his own. The first was taller than the second, and wore a green tie. For some reason everyone was color coded. His short, blonde hair was partially hidden behind a ‘security’ cap. This was Mike, who also seemed sick of his life and ready to collapse. The second however was wearing a smart jacket. This was a part of the dress code, but nobody bothered to uphold it. They wore a blue tie and black canvas shoes. His hair was black like his own, and just as untidy, albeit shorter. This one was Jeremy, the fresh meat. He shook and trembled. He clearly would have failed if it were taken seriously. “So you see, that’s why… oh, the toaster’s fixed. Nice work V.” He acknowledged his co-worker.  
“Hi Mike. How’s newbie holding up with all this… stuff?” He made some vague hand gestures. Jeremy stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor.  
“I just introduced him to Marie.” He smirked. Toychi and Vince both laughed horribly.  
“Hey, it’s not funny! That thing is like… Satan stuffed into a… demon sock monkey or something. She’s pure evil!” He squealed.

 

At this, an immensely tall woman walked in. Every bit of her was almost scarily elongated so that she was over eight feet tall. Her hair was short, straight and asymmetric. It seemed black, but under the light it looked more of an incredibly dark navy blue. Her face appeared to be a mask, with eye-holes to meet with the front of her head. Her eyes were only identifiable by the eerily glowing with dots that flickered in the empty eye spaces. She bore makeup like the other female toys, with rosy cheeks and lipstick, but with the edition of purple bars resembling tears spilling from her eyes down to her jaw. She wore what looked like a black tailed suit trimmed with white and the same deep blue, but wear most suits have open jackets, hers ended and became one solid piece of clothing. It was adorned with three over-sized white buttons, giving it a doll like feel. She did not have feet; rather she walked like an en pointe ballerina on the stubbed ends of her long legs. Her hands were also strange. Whereas the other bots had human hands, hers were all black, with only three doll jointed fingers that were long and pointed. Her forearms and shins were striped. Her face spread into a wide grin, exposing the inside of her mouth. A long tongue, blending in black with the rest of the inside, except for her teeth, which were enviously white and unnecessarily sharp.

 

“Well, I don’t think anyone’s ever called me that before. Cheer-up kid, I was only having a little fun.” She chuckled, ducking to get through the already too tall doorway. Jeremy sprang back defensively.  
“Ohmygodwhydidyoujustdothathowdidyougetthere!” Everyone laughed. Mike sat down on the couch and flickered on the TV.

 

“So… uh… listen… Marionette?” He stuttered,” Uh…” He puffed out his chest a little.  
“F-f-first off, I’m not a kid, I’m 19 years old, I’m an adult and I can do whatever I want, and second, I don’t care if this is some kind of job you’ve got to do, if you or anyone else jump-scares me ever again, I-I’ll… I’ll uh…” As he was trying to find the words, a girl appeared hanging upside-down from the ceiling behind him. Toy foxy had seen some major wear and tear over the years and it certainly showed. Her white hair was scraggly and unkempt, her once white ears going gray with dust and dirt and her white and pink blouse and matching taffy colored skirt were tattered and torn. It also didn’t help that her arms had large amounts of fake skin ripped off to reveal the endoskeleton parts beneath, and she had an extra pair of legs. One was her ordinary fox legs which she’d re-built to be collapsible and hidden under her metal rib-cage as extra protection for her extra endoskeleton head. This too was normally hidden, but her purpose was to scare today, so it now hovered by her own. It was only really used for this and as an extra eye. She was also using her second leg type. Three metal claws attached to snake like limbs that constantly adjusted themselves. Her white and pink fox tail stood out awkwardly in this tangled mess. The Mangle truly lived up to her name.

 

“You’ll do what Jerry baby?” She smirked as he screamed and fell back. She flipped down to the floor and put the extra head away. She patted the fluff from her tail and gave Marionette a fist bump. She took a little bow as Vincent smiled proudly at her and Mike and Toychi clapped.  
“Thank you, thank you, I’m here all week. And presumably the rest of my life. Which is a while I think. Oh hey, the toasters fixed! About time too.” She hummed happily. Another Irish drinking song nobody knew.  
“Cus I’m hungry” The little bell went and she caught the bread in the spare claw.  
“Aw come one! I earned that toast! And you don’t even need to eat!” Vince protested as she devoured his food.  
“Suca sé suas, tá tú ag dul a fháil saill ó go léir an carbs ar aon nós.” She often decided to lecture him in her native tongue, because nobody else understood it. That meant she could say what she liked. Unlike whenever Toychi yelled at people in Spanish, since usually Fritz or Chica were on hand to translate and get her in trouble.

 

Vincent decided to sacrifice his hopes of food to the fox. He went over and collapsed onto the sofa next to Mike.  
“How the hell did I do this? How the hell do you still do it?! It’s impossible to stay awake.” His eyes drooped and he started pass out.  
“Is he ok? Mike?” Jeremy wandered over and prodded the sleepy guards face nervously.  
“He’s fine, but the old man hasn’t had to do a night shift in a long time.” Vince lazily lifted his head in protest and made some moaning noises.  
“Yeah… old man nap time who’s…” he yawned,” Only… 36…” He rubbed his eyes. Mangle clambered over to him.  
“Jeez, if that’s what I’m gonna be like when I’m in my thirties, kill me now please.” Jeremy joked awkwardly. Vincent raised his arm to hit him, but he didn’t have the energy left. “Yeah, coffee’s not going to fix this one. I’m kidnapping you now. My room, no buts. I’m not having you sacrifice your good health.” Mangle grabbed his arm and pulled him up. “Thanks… but why are you so concerned again?” He asked sleepily.  
“Because you’re the only reason I don’t have to interact with the children anymore. You can't be on watch for me if you're passed out.” She smiled.

 

Mangle didn’t have the best of relationships with the children. Mainly because the second she was let out to entertain they quite literally tore her apart. At first it was fine, she understood that she wasn’t built as tough as her brother Foxy. They just thought they could play rough with her too. But eventually she’d realized that this wasn’t the case. They just thought it was funny to destroy her. Soon the management guy’s thought it would be fun to leave her lying in a heap as some kind of take apart and put back together attraction. And though she was the breakthrough, the world’s first truly sentient robot, she had no say at all in the matter. After a while Vincent decided that it wasn’t fair, seeing her in tears every night. So he moved as much of her as could be salvaged to parts and service, where she very quickly learnt how to build herself back up. She hadn’t left during the day since.

 

Mike changed the channel to Action 24. Something on TV exploded as a guy with an over-the-top gruff voice made an eloquent speech about today’s consumerist society.  
“I’m so not watching the immortal and the restless for the rest of this dumb-ass shift. Oh cool, I was meaning to go see this last year.” He said and grabbed an extra cushion for himself so he could lie down. Marie tutted and went to make herself something to eat.  
“You know someone else might want to sit down.” She said as she sifted through the contents of the fridge.  
“Yeah? Well tough luck. Unless they want to risk the wrath of sitting in the almighty armchair that Vince would give, then they’re stuck on the floor or the counter.” He grumbled. He wasn’t having any fun doing this, and he even missed being able to tell bad jokes with Fritz. But now he was stuck in here until the shift was over. The new guy was nice and all, but he was way too timid for a job like this.

 

“Hey Mike, who’s that guy? The one with that weird haircut? I’m sure I saw him in this other thing.” Toychi pointed to the screen.  
“I don’t know, Google it or something. I’m busy being a night guard.” Mike twisted over to face towards the TV. He really didn’t want to see the stupid little McNugget today. He usually spent his shift trying to avoid her, especially now she’d developed an obsession with him. ‘Teenagers…’ he thought to himself. A loud growl interrupted his thinking.  
“What the mierda was that?” Toychi looked up from her phone again.  
“Hey Miley Cyrus, language.” Marie scolded. “I think it was someone’s stomach.” She continued to look sadly at the lack of nice food.  
“That’d be me. Sorry, I didn’t have time to eat…” Jeremy sighed and shuffled his feet. He wanted to go look in the fridge or grab an apple from the bowl or something, but nothing had ever scared him as much as that spaghetti lady and he was not going near her ever again if he could help it.  
“Hey wiener, I actually have some leftovers. I was going to eat them myself when I found them but, since I don’t really need to eat and you do, it only seems fair. If you like pasta salad anyway. I think there’s some grated cheese back here somewhere…” She fished a Clingfilm wrapped bowl and put it on the counter before going back to her search.  
“Um… Marie? About that cheese…” Mike began.


	2. The miracle of old cheese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cheese is a powerful thing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, isn't today Freddy's birthday?
> 
> Well, technically, no. But it's a nice way to think about it. Happy Fnafiversary!

“Oh, well, uh, guess we don’t have cheese then.” Marie produced a plastic reseal-able cheese bag. The label on the front said mild cheddar and mozzarella. It looked more like blue cheese now. “Aww cool! Look, I think something’s living in it! It’s wriggling and everything!” She marveled “Hey Barbie doll, you wanna look?” She grinned as Toychi looked at her clueless before she shoved the disgusting bag of evil in her face. “EEEWWW! Gross! Marie why’d you do that?! Oh god it smells. I’m gonna be sick.” She made some retching noises as she pushed the bag away. “Someone get me a Bio hazard sticker, I’m keeping this crap.” Marie proudly announced. “It shall be my son and I will raise it to be like no other moldy cheese that has come before!” She resealed the bag and put it back in the fridge.  
“Puppet you are one interesting individual. Don’t change.” Mike said. “It does say a lot about us as a society though. We should really clean that thing out.” Toychi nodded, the color only just starting to return to her face. “Aw what? And stop getting surprises like living cheese? I need to show Mangle this, we can share the responsibility.” Marie shut the fridge door and handed the aforementioned bowl of food to Jeremy.

 

“Uh… thanks…” Jeremy said as he removed the wrappings from the dish. “Uh… you’re a lot… like um… you’re cooler than I thought I guess. But why though? Why are you being so nice to me?” He asked. The smell of the now lovingly adopted cheese mess had reached them now and it was difficult to breath.  
“Well I did my job scaring you. Besides, they took into account you’re an automatonophobic wuss. I’m playing that to my advantage. You don’t have to openly say you don’t like me. I understand. I get it a lot. Comes with the job.” She smirked. Jeremy poked the little pasta animals.  
“So, your cool with being terrifying? I’d hate it.” He still couldn’t look at her.  
“Yeah dude, some people just don’t like some things. It’s fine. It’s why you’re not looking at me right now.” Mike cupped his hands around his mouth. “ohhhh!”. Jeremy blushed and swallowed a herd of pasta giraffes.  
“Sorry.”

 

Marie decided to stop pestering the tiny man and sat back on the counter.  
“Yessss! More lives! Thank you random Facebook guy I don’t actually know.” She began to swipe furiously at her phone again.  
“TC? I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you have a problem.” Mike berated her from behind the couches backboard. Marie craned over her to spy on the screen.  
“Oh, move that red one there. You'll get a stripy one then.” She received an icy stare.

 

Mike was wondering where his actual friends were. At this, Mangle walked back in, followed by two more silhouettes. She slumped awkwardly onto Vincent’s armchair.  
“Uh… aren’t we supposed to not sit there?” Jeremy stuttered as he watched her. Mangle shrugged.  
“V doesn’t care about me being sat here. It’s compensation for having a shitty life I guess.” She rolled over so she was sprawled over the arms. It didn’t look very comfy, but she seemed to be happy. She yawned loudly. “So it was like, super difficult, but I managed to learn the whole solo in like, a couple of hours. Not that big a deal really. It’d be nice if I could actually work out how to play guitar hero and I could use those skills, but y’know.” The voice came from the taller of the two new comers. Mike’s ‘actual friends’.

 

The more talkative of the two was a young man dressed in a loose shirt, a violet jacket and dark blue denim jeans. Or jorts in his case, since he also had rabbits legs. His were a light purple, as were his ears, which were much less alert than his Toy counterparts were. His eyes were tired looking too, as their lids drooped sleepily. His hair made it difficult to see, as it was as long as Toy Bonnie’s, but his was neat and curled and Bonnie's was not. He was bragging since he’d recently figured out something on guitar to the smaller figure. This was Chica. She was a little darker skinned than Toychi was and had the same blonde hair. She wore a bright yellow dress that went just below her knees and an apron reading ‘let’s eat!’ A message that she appeared to fully endorse. She yawned. The conversation was clearly boring her.  
“Uh-huh… cool…” She mumbled.

 

“Hello, I don’t think Mike introduced me to you guys,” Jeremy walked somewhat confidently forward. Mike had this itching feeling that he’d forgotten something that was rattling around in the back of his skull. Now he knew why. “Oh, yeah. Jeremy, meet Chica chicken and Bonnie bunny. Play nice kids.” He said sleepily. Chica immediately took the opportunity to avoid talking about guitars and briskly shook Jeremy’s hand. “How lovely to meet you Jeremy! I hope your enjoying your first day. I mean, Mike sure isn’t.” She giggled. She reminded Jeremy of his mother. And a lot of peoples mothers come to think of it. “Come on Bonnie, at least try to look enthusiastic.” Bonnie looked at the corner. “He’s just grouchy since his routine’s changed. Just like his little brother. You’ve met little T-Bone, right?” Bonnie tried not to smile.  
“Fine. What’s up?” He waved. Normally he could talk to Fritz about the old rock gods, but on the day shift he was too busy keeping an eye on the kids. “Uh, the ceiling?” Jeremy tried to break the ice. Mike tried not to laugh. Chica looked at him with disappointment. “Well, I suppose your going to fit right in.”

 

“I’ll bet Mike hasn’t introduced you to Freddy or Foxy either, huh?” She kept shaking her head at Mike. “How about we take you? I’m sure they wouldn’t… oh, actually, I think we should just see Freddy. Foxy’s in a bit of a mood.” She explained. Mangle decided to elaborate.  
“He was playing with the kids yesterday and somehow managed to bust his arm. Whimpered like a kit the whole time I was fixing it.” She and Bonnie laughed. Jeremy just looked confused. “Ah, I see. That explains it. Come on.” She led Jeremy back out the door.  
“So how the hell did he break his arm?” Bonnie sat on the couch arm.  
“Apparently the kids made him walk the plank and he landed on it funny.” Mangle smirked again. “Y’know, because it’s not like there’s a giant ball pit designed so that people don’t do that.”

 

At that, Foxy appeared at the door. He was shorter than both Chica and Bonnie, which meant he always ha a chip on his shoulder, but today he was understandably angry, with his arm in a sling. Now couldn’t use either arm, as the other ended in a hook instead of a hand. He wore a tattered red pirate outfit, with a long ripped coat and brown shorts to give his animal legs better mobility. However, whereas even Mangle had retained some felt, his were almost entirely bare, and his tail was tattered and torn. This was due to many years of being the only animatronic that left the stage to play with the children. He had long, messy dark red hair and bright yellow eyes like his sister, as well as scars, rips and tears. “Don’t say a word.” He snarled, revealing his two gold teeth.   
“Too late. Why the hell is you’re arm in that thing?” Toychi looked up from her phone at him.  
“Because, as I’ll bet my darlin’ sister told ye, I had a small accident whilst pretending to be devoured by sharks yesterday.” He announced. He cradled it as if he’d been mauled by a bear. “Oh don’t be so stupid. I fixed your arm. Unless you’re dying for someone to kiss it better then take that thing off.” Mangle snapped.

 

“Yeah dude, it’s not like you’re dying or whatever.” Marie said. Foxy glared at her. Usually when he was in a bad mood, it was a bad idea to talk to him.  
“Jesus dude, I’m only agreeing with Cait over there.” Marie didn’t like it when Foxy picked fights. More accurately, she didn’t really like Foxy.  
“Marie? Let it go. He’s being a whiny bitch. He’ll snap out of it tomorrow.” Mangle looked at her with concern. “If you’re just going to snap at everyone’s ankles then why are you even here? You said you didn’t want to talk to anyone. Just head back to the cove and sleep.” She had gotten up at this point. “You’re working tomorrow anyway. Birthday party? Remember?” He exhaled sharply and headed back out.

 

“Well that was… something.” Toychi watched him leave. “It’s not like it’s our fault he’s so ridiculously in character all the time.” She went back to messing with her phone.  
“I hope nothing’s actually bugging him.” Marie sighed. “What time is it?” She asked. Toychi closed her internet tab.  
“Oh shoot! Uh, it’s 5:36.” She said. Marie sprang up.  
“Crap. I was supposed to do an inventory check an hour ago. Let’s hope nobody comes in for breakfast or something.” She began to rush towards the arcade, but then ducked back through the door. “Tell Jerry I said bye!” She said before dashing back out.  
“OK!” Mike called after her. “Where the heck is my jacket?” Mike asked, looking around the room.  
“Have you checked, like, on the coat rack?” Bonnie pointed at it.  
“Yes, that’s why I’m asking, dumbass.” Mike shot back. “Ugh, whatever, keep an eye out. It’s not that cold. I need to go home and sleep.” He rubbed his eyes.

 

“So we’ll see you tomorrow I hope.” Chica was talking outside the door. She and Jeremy walked back in.  
“Yeah, definitely.” He said. He seemed a lot more confident now. Probably because the Puppet wasn’t around anymore. Jeremy grabbed his coat from the rack.  
“So… it was cool meeting you all. See you tomorrow I guess.” He smiled uneasily.  
“Yeah, or your not getting paid for the week.” Mike joked.  
“Come on. Later guys.” He and Jeremy walked out.

 

“So, a new dawn.” Chica said. “What did you guy’s look so flustered about?” She sat down now that there was enough room on the couch.  
“Foxy.” Bonnie said. Chica rolled her eyes.  
“He’s probably just a bit unsettled with all the new stuff going on. Besides, Scott’s been away, so he didn’t visit this month. That’s probably all it is. He’s not being like this to the kids, so I think he’s fine.” She shrugged. “Anyway, it’s not like we can do anything. He’s always been a grouch. It’s probably a family thing.”  
“Excuse me?” Mangle snapped.  
“Case in point.” Toychi giggled. Mangle pretended to be insulted. “It’s still a bit worrying though.” She looked at the door.  
“Think we’ll ever tell on Mikey for leaving early?” She asked.

 

“I have a question.” Bonnie said. “What the actual hell is that smell. Like, is anybody going to talk about it?” He covered his nose with his shirt as best he could. Toychi groaned. “It’s been moving around the room. That’s Marie’s newborn child. Mangle, she said you’re the father.” Mangle sniffed at the air as everyone else continued to wheeze.  
“Doesn’t smell that bad to me. Wait, I’m the father? Oh god, I’m not ready for the responsibility… and where am I going to get the money to support a kid?” She laughed.  
“Ugh, it’s so bad… open the door for god’s sake!” Chica coughed.  
“Mangle, foxes eat literal trash, you could probably eat it.” Bonnie said, propping the door open with a chair.  
“I would never eat my only child! How dare you sir!” She continued to laugh at the other’s misfortune. “Anyway, I’m off to wake sleeping beauty. Later.”  
She reassembled her claw legs and crawled off through the vent towards parts and service.

 

“Howdy Marie.” Toy Bonnie tapped the Puppet on the back of the leg. She screamed as she turned around.  
“Oh my god! T-bone, do NOT do that! Ugh now I have to start counting all over again. Do you want us to be one bouncy-ball short today? Is that it? Are you going to rejoice when the poor children cry when they can't get their bouncy-balls? You sadistic monster.” She took a few deep breaths and went back to counting.  
“Heh, never knew you could be such a scaredy cat. I was just gonna ask if your new buddy was still all shook up or not.” He snickered. Marie decided to ignore his comments on her bravery and focus on stacking plushies.  
“He’s fine. But you won’t be fine if you keep interrupting me. Unlike you dweeb singing and dancing all day I have an actual job. Involving maths. Many, many maths.” She sighed as tiny Chicas came tumbling off the shelf.  
"Uh huh."

 

“Well, it just seemed like he was… how do I put this, traumatized? By you. You specifically. Nobody else. Just this, right here, you.” He rambled, but she flicked him in the eye.  
“I get it, I scared him. I scare a lot of people. I just have to live with it.” She began collecting stray cupcakes.  
“If you don’t like it then why don’t you do something about it? You’re huge! And you don’t have any eyes, and your teeth are all spiky, the list of reasons why you spook everyone is too long.” Toy Bonnie rubbed his sore eye. She threatened to flick it again.  
“It’s useful to look this way.” She said, with her usual energy seemingly drained away. This happened anytime someone criticized her appearance, and her lack of enthusiasm to change it. She hummed to the tune of her box. Toy Bonnie decided to just head back to the backstage area to rest for a bit. He didn’t want to face the anger she normally suppressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still here?
> 
> I have a tumblr for this. In case anyone needed to ask things.
> 
> https://therearemorethanfivenights.tumblr.com/


	3. Happy birthday!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A birthday Party occurs.

The hours rolled by faster than expected. “HEY! WAKE THE HELL UP!” Mangle grabbed a wrench and began to bang it against the wall.  
“What the hell? Mangle? I’m up already, jeez!” A muffled voice. The parts and service room was now huge and, quite frankly, worryingly unorganized. It was the size of a small warehouse and covered wall to wall with shelves of bits and pieces. In the corner nearest the door there was a tiny shack made of scrap metal sheets. In the far corner on the same side, there was another, but slightly smaller, and attached to the roof. The floor was flat, and there was a small balcony outside the door. It could have passed as a futuristic tree house, but the walls and roof meant it was more like a wasps nest made of corrugated iron. Through the crack in the door you could see the dim twinkle of fairy lights, and a now messy bed. It was a sharp contrast to the now brightly lit concrete workshop below.

The lower shack door opened to reveal a gangly looking girl brandishing a screwdriver. She had cropped auburn hair and brilliant blue eyes. She was still getting dressed, pulling a jumper over her moth-eaten blue aperture science shirt and brushing the bottom of her grey jeans down. She tried desperately to get a comb through her hair.  
“The hell are you doing up so early? There’s nothing to do today.” She grumbled. “New guy last night? Remember? We stopped by but you were sleeping.” Mangle replied. This was the live in mechanic, Dawn. She helped fix the problems that Mangle couldn’t handle.  
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, cool. The heck is he doing up there?” She pointed to the door where Vincent was. He’d borrowed Mangle’s brush and was sat combing his hair. “Sleep okay?” She called up. “He was on the verge of passing out last night. I don’t know which idiot is assigning him shifts. He’s doing day and night shift this week. He’s a human being! It’s not fair to-“ She’d noticed that Dawn had begun to snicker to herself. “And what, may I ask, is so funny?” She asked sternly.

“Oh nothing. It’s just your being really concerned about him. For no reason.” Mangle looked at the floor and blushed.  
“It’s nothing! I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not that. At least it better not be.” She looked back up as Vincent was re-tying his hair.  
“Hey ladies? Can one of you install a ladder here or something?” He called down.  
“Hold on Rapunzel, I’m coming.” Mangle replied. She once again gained her three claws and began to scale the beams lining the wall and ceiling. She hung upside-down in front of him. “Ready to escape the tower m’lady?” She asked. He pressed his forearm against his head.  
“Oh, has prince charming finally arrived to free me? Pray tell how you got past the sleeping dragon below?” His falsetto was scarily impressive. There was a rumor that he’d help give the toys their voices. All of them. “HEY!” Dawn yelled from below.  
“I never said you were a bad dragon.” He replied normally.  
“Do you want me to get you down or not?” Mangle lowered herself onto the balcony.  
“Uggghhhh! Can’t I just stay here? I don’t want to deal with children again today…” He moaned.

“No, you can’t. I want to sleep too.” She coiled one of her legs around him and clambered down.  
“Noooooooo…” He reached weakly back at the door to the room.  
“Quit complaining.” She dropped him onto the floor once they were both safely down. “Fine…” He kicked one of the spare bolts on the floor.  
“Guess the pretty princess has to spend his day making sure some other guy's brat kids don’t draw on the walls… again.” He gave a quick salute. “See you gals around.” He walked out. Mangle sat down heavily on the big metal table. “You were totally looking at his butt just now...” Dawn began. Mangle raised a crowbar and threatened her with it. “Ok, I’m shutting up.” She smiled and began to fiddle with one of the little circuit boards in her pocket.

The doors opened promptly at 9:30 and welcomed in the first few families. The few waiters rushed in some last minute cleaning as their colleagues asked what food people wanted. The usual drawing factor of the breakfast menu was pancakes. One little kid started to sob quietly.  
“Oh no, sweetie it’s ok! He’ll be happy! I know you miss him.” This was what the animatronics were born to do. A waiter pointed them out and handed over serving duty to Toy Bonnie. He skipped over to the table. The child was about four years old. His older sister sat opposite didn’t seem much older. “Howdy there, what’s wrong little guy?” He put the plates of waffles and ice cream on the table. “Our dog, he recently… went to stay on a farm.” The mother told him. This was something they got at least twice a month. A treat for having to give up the family pet. “Oh dear, I’m sorry to here that.” T-bone looked at the boy. He seemed to cheer up a bit knowing that he was there.  
“It’s ok, I’m sure he’ll be fine. Just keep smiling, I’m sure he wouldn’t like it if you were all sad now. Why don’t I see about getting one of the toys from the arcade? Think that’ll cheer ya up?” He asked. The boy sniffed and nodded.  
“Why don’t you go with Toy Bonnie and pick out something nice?” The mother ruffled the boy’s hair. He started to smile a little.

“Wow.” Marie was sat in her box. The flaps could lock in place, so acted like a mock counter-top. “Are you sure you won all those for real?” She joked. A little girl was hopping up and in front of the box. She’d just shoved a mountain of tickets onto the box. “Yeah! I did!” She beamed. “Uhhhh… How much for the golden Freddy bear?” She pointed to a Fredbear plush. “Let’s see… 2000. You’ve got tons to spare. Can I interest you in a replica Spring Bonnie Bass? Or a Toy Bonnie Banjo?” The girl giggled.  
“No thank you Miss Puppet. I’m going to save the rest. I could buy my uncle a new X-box. He threw his out the window.” She smiled, recounting the tale. Marie shook her head. “Damn teenagers and their call of duties, am I right?” The girl nodded and giggled, running off to show off her new toy. Marie fished through the box to put another Fredbear on the shelf. The shelf system, if anywhere else, would prove very inefficient. It was very high up, but any kid could just hurl a skee ball and knock one of the display items off. But nobody dared, since the Puppet was easily the scariest robot in the building, and watched her treasures diligently.

Toy Bonnie came in through the big double doors, with the teary youngster in tow. “Hey Marie? Got anything you wouldn’t mind giftin’ away?” He walked over to the counter. The boy was trying to hide behind Toy Bonnie as best he could while also trying to see up to the shelf to see if he liked anything. “Sure. I don’t think you’d ask without a good reason.” She opened the drawer again to save moving the display. “Hey tiny, who’s your favorite?” The boy thought a while. “Toy.” He said proudly, and tugged on Toy Bonnie’s arm. “Well ain’t that the sweetest.” He grinned. Marie fished around.  
“Here we are” She produced a small blue stuffed rabbit. “Looks just like you!” She tossed it at Toy Bonnie, who frowned. He gave it to the now happy kid who immediately hugged it. “Very funny Mari. Let’s go back to you’re mom, we don’t want her eating your waffles.” He took the boy’s hand again.

“Aww, he’s so cute. Say thank you to Toy Bonnie, David.” The mother said once her son had sat back down.  
“Thank you.” The boy said quietly. His sister began to play with him, making the little arms move.  
“Thank you so much. I know you must have other things to do.” The mother looked lovingly at her children. “I haven’t seen them get along so well in forever. You wouldn’t mind if I brought you home with us?” They laughed.  
“Sorry ma’am, ‘fraid I have to decline. Enjoy the rest of your food!” He waved at the children before heading backstage.  
“Pity real kids aren’t that nice.” The mother sighed before eating more ice-cream.

The place only got livelier as the hours passed. On the stage, the Toys all played song after song. Toy Freddy stepped forward to take more requests. He looked like a younger version of Freddy, around eighteen, with lighter skin and much thinner. Much like the difference between Chicas. He wore a similar outfit too, but in a lighter shade with a longer jacket. Technically the Toys should have been on a break, so that they wouldn’t overwork themselves and break down, but he couldn’t resist keeping the children smiling. “Huh, looks like I left a pack of cards in here… magic anyone?” The children all gasped. “We’re gonna rest up a while. Later kids!” Toy Bonnie said as he and Toy Chica waved goodbye. “Okay… Sally, is your card… the… seven of diamonds?” He announced as stopped on it. Sally looked shocked. “Whoa… how did you do that?!” She asked. Toy Freddy sat on the edge of the stage. “A magician never reveals his secrets Sally. Never ever.” He put the card back and began to shuffle. “Aww… pleeeaaase?” Sally begged. The other children joined in.

“Oh alright.” He held the deck flat on his hand. “You need to keep the seven of diamonds, or whatever card you want the person to pick, on the top. See? Like this. And then you do this…” He moved the different cards back, like when Sally first picked. “So when you stop, you really quickly slide the card underneath the top deck. So it looks like it’s been there the whole time. Then you shuffle so it looks convincing. Then you lay the cards out until you see the seven and say ‘Aha!’ and everyone is amazed.” He gave the deck to Sally. “Why don’t you practice at home. The next time I see you, you can do the trick. But don’t pick the seven, or I’ll know. Ok?” Sally nodded. “Now, I really should go. So… uh… Foxy?” The fox pirate was standing on the edge of pirate cove looking exasperated. “Oh no.” He went over to investigate.

Pirate’s cove was divided into two sections by a large curtain. The smaller ‘kids cove’ was a smaller children’s play area. Soft play, a table for colouring, and a big slide leading to the other side. The other side was the most impressive. It was the front half of a small pirate ship. There was rigging to climb, a working wheel, pretend cannons and a pole to slide into the bottom of the ship, where there was more coloring things, and a treasure chest full of dress-up clothes. But what the kids loved most was the plank. Instead of a pointed bow or figurehead, a small bridge let the kids jump into the ball pit below. And this is where the issue lay. “BB get out of the ball pit.” Toy Freddy ordered. A muffled giggle came from below the surface. “No!” Said the ball pit voice. “BB, Now.” He was trying to do his best angry dad voice, but it clearly wasn’t working. He turned to Foxy. “Get the Puppet.” He said. The balls moved and a small boy in a striped shirt and propeller hat emerged. “Nooo! I’ll get out! I promise!” This was balloon boy. He was supposed to be giving balloons out, or at least playing in kid’s cove to make sure nothing goes wrong. But he’d been frequently popping up in the ball pit. Usually right underneath the plank so none of the other kids could play.

“Back to work BB. Don’t you like hanging out with the other kids anymore?” He was only nine, so they couldn’t really expect much work discipline. Still. “No, I like it… I just like hiding in the ball pit!” He complained. Nobody ever let him hide in the ball pit. He wanted to learn how to jump-scare people. Even Toy Bonnie could do it, so why couldn’t he? “You can play when everyone else has gone home. What if someone jumped on you? Then you’d have a sore head and they’d get sore feet.” Toy Freddy scolded him. “But… ugh…” He stomped as loudly as he could back to the other side. “You know this stuff wouldn’t keep happening if Mangle still did her job.” Toy Freddy tutted. Foxy began to climb back onto his ship. “Her job was torture. I don’t think she’d appreciate looking any worse than she does now.” He clambered back up the rigging. “Arr! Now, who be first t' walk tha plank!”

1:30. Freddy was sat backstage. He quickly adjusted his bow-tie. Today, a birthday party was due to start now. But he always liked to leave it a little while, to build tension, to be fashionably late. That and Chica was yet to arrive because she was still in maintenance. For whatever reason she took a dare to fit an entire twelve inch pizza in her mouth. Hopefully she’d get back soon. “I’m here!” There she was. She was still wiping tomato sauce from her face. “About time. Well done for trying though.” Bonnie chuckled. “Quiet, both of you. It’s showtime.” He hushed his band-mates. There was a lot of murmuring and giggling from the other side of the red curtains. Even the other families, who had nothing to do with the party, talked among themselves. Although they had grown up and had there own families, they were still amazed by the bots. Even if they were just for kids.

Two minutes had passed. The curtains rose and the lights came on. “Hey kids! Are we all ready to party?!” Freddy stepped out in front. The children all cheered. Chica and Bonnie followed behind. “Hee hee, that’s great! We’ve got all sorts of fun and games in store today! But… oh dear…” She frowned. “Bonnie, I believe I’ve hit a wall. I can’t remember whose birthday it is.” She pretended to be very disappointed with herself. “Oh Chica, you’ve got a memory like a goldfish! I just told you! Hey guy’s, maybe if we sing happy birthday, Chica will remember whose birthday it is. Ready?” Bonnie readied his guitar. The kids all sang happily together, and no matter how off-beat or out of key they were, it was always touching. “Now I remember! Thank you everyone!” Chica beamed. “And a very happy birthday Johnny!” She went backstage.

“Everyone come up on stage here, because according to this… short list…” Freddy produced a comically long list from his pocket. “Ah yes, the first game we shall play is pass the parcel!” He and Bonnie sat down. “That’s it, get in a circle everyone.” The kids fought for a while over who got to sit next to whom. Chica re-emerged with a bundle of layered tissue paper. The circle made some space for her to sit. “Ok, Bonnie, can you play us some music?” Bonnie played three chords. “A bit more than that silly.” She folded her arms. Bonnie played a guitar rendition of some old pop song from five years ago that was played at nearly every children's party. Freddy hummed along. “Ok, when the music stops, the person with the present opens it, ok? Go!” She handed the parcel to the boy sat next to her.

The party continued in much the same manner, until it was time to play hide and seek. “Ok, for the final prize, everyone has to hide, and we have to find you. Remember, you can’t go in the staff areas or outside.” Freddy announced. “And don’t hide under other peoples tables or bother them, because if you do that you’re out!” The children nodded and went off to hide. “One of these days some kid's going to go in the break room. I’ll bet my guitar.” Bonnie sighed. “Think Foxy’s going to be cool doing this again?” He looked over to the captains quarters, an area of backstage accessed by the door on the ship. “Are you kidding? He loves doing this kinda stuff. Pirates were bad guys. He’s fine with it.” Freddy hopped down from the stage. “I think it’s been a bit more than one hundred seconds. Let’s go.” He helped Chica down.

“Ok, we’ve almost found everyone. Who’s left?” Bonnie asked the huddle of kids. They responded as loudly as possible. “Alright, then we need to find Johnny and Catherine. Onward!” He marched everyone out of the second event room, through the dining hall and into the arcade. “We haven’t checked here. Hey Marie? Have you seen anyone suspiciously hiding around here?” He asked. A little girl’s voice came from the box. “She’s in there!” One of the kids pointed it out and bounced up and down triumphantly. “What? Are you accusing me of hiding a fugitive? You insult me; I would never, ever… run Catherine!” The puppet cried. Catherine leaped out of the box and tried to run, but Freddy was waiting. “Gotcha!” She squealed as her friends surrounded her. “Oh well. That was a very good spot though. Clever thinking.” Freddy looked around. “I see you there in the dark young man. Come on out. The birthday boy is victorious.” He gestured to the corner. Johnny had squeezed himself into a space between the DDR and Street Fighter 2 machines. “I won!” He yelled happily. Most of his friends congratulated him; a few were still a bit sore for not winning anything.

“Ok, back to the stage, I think it’s almost time to go.” Chica announced. Marie looked behind the group. “Oh no! Bonnie, it looks like someone stole the prize!” She pointed to Bonnie’s now empty hands. “Oh no! Looks like this game is going on a little longer than we thought. And I think I know who did it. Curse you Foxy!” He looked up and shook his fist at the ceiling. “No need to be so dramatic Bonnie. All we need to do is find Foxy, and then we can retrieve the prize. Remember the rules everyone.” Freddy led them back out to the dining hall. The kids started to look high and low for Foxy. Eventually one of the girls found him crouched under the drawing table under the pirate ship. “Yarr, me plan has been foiled. Very well then lass, take this treasure to its real owner.” Foxy begrudgingly handed over the bag of candy. The girl called everyone over. “Thanks Tracy! Don’t steal, Foxy. It’s bad!” Johnny lectured Foxy as he began to eat one of the mini chocolate bars.

Everyone laughed and had fun. The kids shared their goods and played with each other. Except for one.


	4. The Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you add a 'd' to the title it's still pretty accurate.

One young boy was standing aside. He didn’t really like the party anymore. There was too much going on. Too much noise. He wanted to find his parents, but Johnny’s dad had given them a ride here. He didn’t know where he was, and he didn’t really want to talk to him anyway. And what was worse? He was terrified of dogs. And even though he looked very human, Foxy was still unnerving him. He was loud, and he took candy. Even if it wasn’t real, it still spooked him.

“Hey, are you ok? Don’t you want to go play with your friends?” Bonnie walked towards him.  
“N-no thank you. It’s so loud…” He began to say. The bunny sat down on the floor next to him. “It’s ok man. Loud noises aren’t everyone’s idea of fun. It’s fine if you want to sit out. Need anything to drink?” The boy nodded. “’Kay, I’ll go get a juice box or something. Sit tight.” He hopped over to the kitchens and came back with some juice. “Apple? Orange? We’re out of blackcurrant for whatever reason.” He sat back down. He offered the boxes to the boy, who picked orange. They both punctured the hole in the top. “I didn’t know robots needed to eat.” The boy said. Bonnie shrugged. “We don’t really, but we can. I’m not a mechanic so I couldn’t tell you how it works. What’s your name?”  
“Jay” the boy said, trying to aim the straw to get the last of the juice from the small box.  
“When are you getting picked up? Because we could always call home if you feel too overwhelmed. Johnny’s dad has everyone’s parent’s number so…” Jay shook his head.  
“I’m feeling a bit better now.”

“Better as in wanting to get up and play better or better as in if I went away you’d freak out again.” Bonnie smiled. Jay thought about it.  
“I think I just want to sit here. You can go play if you want.” He went to one of the benches at the side of the cove.  
“Hey, I’ve got an idea. I’ve got to get the party bags from backstage. You could come if you like.” He gestured to the curtains. Jay got back up again.  
“Really? Cool!” He joined Bonnie as he walked backstage. His eyes widened as he saw all of the different things.  
“They’re in here I think.” Bonnie looked in a small broom cupboard of props and things. “Uh, nope, guess not. Maybe… oh yeah, Chica moved them. In case anyone wandered in here.” He turned the cupboards lights off. “I mean anyone could just wander up and steal from that closet. Like Foxy… uh, I think they’re in parts and service. Can you stay here for a little bit? P and S is a bit dangerous for youngsters. I’ll be back soon.” Jay gave him a smile and a thumbs up.

But when Bonnie got back, the boy had gone. “Jay? I thought I told you to stay put.” He looked around in-case he was hiding. Chica and Freddy had returned from the party.  
“Party bags?” Chica took them from Bonnie’s hands. “Thanks!” She dashed back out.  
“Well, I believe that went well. Better than the last one, eh?” Freddy laughed. “I think we deserve a break, with all that running around. Where have you been?” Freddy asked. Bonnie was too busy scanning the room outside to check for his small friend. “Hey Freddy, the kid with the blue and green shirt. Messy hair, shy looking?” Bonnie was getting more and more worried as each kid left the party. “What about him? I thought he’d left early.” Freddy was already half asleep. He yawned as his systems turned off slowly.  
“Damn it. Chica!” He called her over.

“What is it?” She seemed just as tired. They all needed fresh batteries. They were getting tired far too quickly.  
“Jay, blonde-ish hair, short, shy, where?” He asked quickly. He was feeling drowsy.  
“I dunno… ask,” she yawned, “Freddy.” She sat down and dozed off. They’d be up again once they’d recharged. All he had to do was wait until then, and they’d give him some answers. But the second he sat down, he felt his eyes closing against his will. “No… you gotta stay awake… stupid rabbit…stay…awake…” He snored softly.

“Dawn?” Bonnie wandered slowly into parts and service. “You awake?” He poked his head around the shack door. “Bono! What can I do you for?” Dawn was sat on the balcony to Mangles den, dangling her legs back and forth over the edge. “Uh, it’s my chest. It feels super tight. I was hoping you could maybe check it out?” He sat down on the metal table. “Fine, hold on.” Mangle lowered one of her limbs for her to slide down. “I really should put a ladder up.” Mangle said, swinging the hanging leg slowly  
“Yeah, you should. So what seems to be the issue?” Dawn asked. Bonnie removed his shirt and jacket and she flicked the switch. This caused his back to split, and she opened it slowly. “I’m not sure why you’re breathing’s off. Not like there isn’t any room in there…” She stopped. “Oh… oh dear god!” She screamed and stumbled backwards.  
“What?” Bonnie asked. He was starting to panic. He scrabbled around until he could feel that something big was lodged in his back. Something soft. And something covered in blood.

“If he has a bee’s nest in him again…” Mangle started. “Dawn, what the hell is… oh no.” She noticed the red marks on both Bonnie’s back and Dawn’s hands. Both couldn’t speak. “I’ll get the others.” She said. She went back inside her den. She could be heard scrabbling through the overhead vents. Dawn had started to regain movement. She got up and tried to steel herself. Unlike Bonnie who was still frozen and hyperventilating. “Bonnie, breathe. If you keep doing that then you’re going to overheat.” She tried to calm him down. Evidently in vain, as he just kept getting worse. “I… I don’t… I can’t…” He stuttered. He took a deep breath. “hah…hah… I… I think… I think I’m ok, I mean, I'm not okay at all.” Dawn tried to get the plates further open, but they wouldn’t budge. “Let’s just calm down and wait for Mangle to get back.”

“What’s going on? Mangle?!” Mike was being dragged in. He’d barely walked in the door when the fox had run up to him screeching. “There is no way someone could have shoved an entire body into Bonnie. They’d have to be a-” He stopped dead. “Child.” He finished. He removed the security cap from his head.  
“Hi Mike.” Bonnie said sadly. “Uh…” Mike grabbed Dawn’s walkie-talkie from the table.  
“Jeremy? You here yet? Get Freddy and Vincent. It’s bad. Like really bad.” He waited for Jeremy to reply. A muffled voice spluttered from the device.  
“Sorry, still figuring everything out. I’ll do that.” It hissed before it was turned off.  
“What the actual hell.” Mangle said. “This isn’t the first time. It’s the same. Exactly the same.” She wanted to go back to her room to hide, but some creepy part of her wouldn’t let her take her eyes off the corpse. Like she was looking for something important. “I hope to god it’s not like before. Because it wasn’t just one before.” Bonnie stared at the floor.

“What’s up?” Vincent walked in, followed by Marie and Freddy. “Another bee’s nest?” He looked at the way people were looking at the opening in Bonnie’s back.  
“It… it’s happened again, hasn’t it?” Freddy was clearly distressed. “Has it?” Bonnie gave a scared nod. Vincent and Marie looked at each other.  
“That’s impossible. They caught the guy, didn’t they?” Vincent walked up to the group by the table, but quickly looked down and walked away. “That was stupid.” He gagged. It was a known fact that he was hemophobic. Freddy went to help him. “Hey, I’m fine, it’s all good.” Vincent said, despite clinging to Freddy’s arm for support, " You don't mind if I throw up in here right?" Mike leaned back on the shack wall.  
“So… what do we do? I mean… This happened before, right?” He asked.

“Yeah, but last time there was a big cover-up. Everything was dealt with quickly and quietly. There was a little investigation, then the police were given a very handsome sum of money not to publicize it all. They came back empty. No evidence could be found that pointed to anyone. So it was all a big mystery. The parents were given the bodies for burial or whatever and that was it.” Marie sat down. “Which was all fine and dandy ten years ago. But I don’t think they could pull it again.” She pulled her knees up to her chest.  
“She’s right. And that presents the issue of what’s going to happen to us.” Vincent went to sit next to her, still clutching his stomach. “If word get’s out at all about any of this… I don’t think the police are going to be happy with the company. Every person here would probably be either fired or at the very least cautioned, and they might suspect the bots of doing this.” He explained.

“You’re kidding! Why would anyone suspect them for it? They couldn’t!” Dawn protested. Mike looked equally confused and angered.  
“Think about it. The last time, the kids were stuffed in the original suits and no evidence could be found that pointed to any human being. The toys, Marie and BB included, are all meant to protect kids. If they can’t do that then it’s likely someone’s going to either re-wire them or scrap them, same for the originals if that’s what is decided. Either way we all lose. And trust me, I know they’re different now, but I’ve watched them do some damage in the past. And one person in particular try to do harm.” He looked at Mangle. “Not like we can’t do anything though. People are defiantly going to notice that.” The others nodded, except for Dawn, who looked surprised.  
“Wait, who did damage? What happened?!” She said. Mangle spoke up first.  
“I tried to take a chunk out of some kids arm. But he really deserved it! I mean, he took my entire arm off. And half my leg. He didn’t realize what I was doing though, so I got off scot-free.” She seemed a little too pleased about that.

Dawn was still trying to wrap her head around how violent her friend really was. Mike on the other hand was weighing their options. “Hey… I guess… we’re cops right? I mean, almost anyway. What if we investigated it? We could get away with that, right?” He looked around for support. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. It’ll keep our heads above water at least. But we’d still have to inform the police, and Jay’s family.” Freddy said.  
“Unless we pretend we never found him. If we have a body they’re going to suspicious. If we treat it like he’s still missing…” Mangle was already formulating a plan. “But where the hell do we hide a body?! We can’t just bury him or…” She wondered if it was possibly to inconspicuously dig up the rubber ground stuff on the small playground outside. “Actually… remember the safe room? Where Spring Bonnie hangs out. There’s a secret room in there. It’s like some resident evil shit. You push one of the switches on the generators and it opens. I think you go down some steps and there are… lockers and some old props and stuff.” Vincent said. Marie nodded. “Yeah, I think I remember seeing… I mean, I heard about something like that.”

And so it was that Jay was released from Bonnie’s insides and laid to temporary rest in a locker in the secret safe room. And the police were informed that the pizzeria was launching a private investigation into the disappearance of a young boy, and that they would be notified if anything came up.

It wasn’t long however before word got out to the others. From that point onward the atmosphere was extremely tense. The Toys were quick to notice the looks that Marie and Freddy were giving some of the more shifty looking adults. However, they tried to continue their lives as normally as possible “Toy Chica! Look! I made a pretty bracelet for you!” This was Danielle. Each bot had a small group of regulars who would come to see them as often as they could. “Oh how sweet. It’s beautiful, thank you!” Toychi slipped the bracelet onto her arm. It was made of cheap plastic beads and sequins. “I’ll treasure it always.” She admired it. In all honesty she adored getting gifts, as she wasn’t as popular with the children as she’d like to be. There was always one hormone fueled asshole out to ruin her day by commenting about her boobs. One of which was sliding up to her, clearly egged on by his friends. "Hey there-" He began. Toy Chica was having none of it.  
“Ugh. No, I’m not interested.” She said, turning to look at him with disgust before continuing to talk to Danielle. “Do you think we could make one more sweetie? I’d like to give one to my friend.” Danielle beamed and grabbed her hand. But clearly the teen wasn’t done.

“Excuse me, but I wasn’t done talking to her. Get lost rat.” He made a lunge for her. Toychi shielded her by standing between them. “You’re right, we aren’t done talking. Danielle, could you please go back to kid’s cove? I shouldn’t be too long.” She turned to her and smiled as she ran off to get started on the DIY jewelry. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like a chat with you.” She stormed off to the hall way followed by the teen, who turned and made faces at his friends, under the impression that he was getting somewhere. “So, privacy. I don’t like to squawk in front of the little kids. I’m going to put it plainly for you, dumbass. I am not interested in the slightest in you, or any of your little friends for that matter. I’m here to keep the children happy and make sure they’re safe. I am not here to be fed cheesy pick-up lines by meat-heads like you.” She growled.

The teen tried to look as cool as possible. “Hey, if you don’t want to get any attention chicky, then maybe you shouldn’t be so sexy lookin’. Just saying.” He put his arm on the wall to semi-block her from leaving. “Y’know, maybe you’re right. Maybe I am too pretty for my own good. I mean, My cousin doesn’t get this crap, and neither does Marie. But maybe you’re wrong. Maybe you’re just coming up with excuses for your inability to keep it in your pants. Now if you don’t mind, there is a seven year old girl eager to make a friendship bracelet, and I don’t like to disappoint. That means F off.” She tried to move around him but he stopped her. “Well right now you’re disappointing me.” He purred. She sighed and tried to brush him away. But as she began to walk away he grabbed her ass.

“So I slapped him.” Toychi announced proudly in the break room that evening. Everyone gave her a round of applause. “Hell yeah!” Toy Freddy cheered as she took a bow. “I also happened to remember that my eyes can be camera feeds. So I sent it to the cops. Guess who now has a criminal record? That guy!” More applause. “I would have kicked him where the sun don’t shine too, but that would have been harder to gloss over.” The microwave made a small ding. “Oh, my food is edible now.” She went to collect it.  
“Not to be a downer here, but how often does that happen?” Jeremy asked.  
“Often enough that we’re probably going to end up banning unsupervised teens.” Mike grumbled. “And what you said was wrong. They may not have said it their faces, but I’ve seen some creeps make eyes at Marie before. Gross.” He added. Marie shrugged.  
“Not sure what they’re looking at.” She said. Mangle and Toychi laughed.

“So, uh, do we want to address the elephant in the room or are ya’ll gon’ keep more secrets from us.” Toy Bonnie asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this ended up being uploaded later than I'd like. Still, here it is. Hopefully life won't prevent me from being punctual anymore.
> 
> Tumblr is as always
> 
> https://therearemorethanfivenights.tumblr.com/


	5. New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lemon sweets are nice. So is Mangle apparently.

“There’s nothing really to discuss. All you need to know is that you need to be on high alert. Do not hesitate to record anything suspicious, or report any funny business to the guards.” Freddy said sternly. The toys looked at each other. “What?” He turned to them.  
“Well… why? What’s even happened?” Toy Freddy asked. He was the one most likely to get an answer.  
“A child has been killed. That’s all you need to know.” Chica said. “You don’t need to know what happened exactly. It would freak you out.” She didn’t like the idea of them being exposed to a brutal murder. They all groaned. “As if we’re gon’ be able to help if ya’ll don’t tell us what to look out for.” Toy Bonnie sniffed.  
“We’re not going to say anything bro, let it go.” Bonnie looked shaken. He got off the couch and left.  
“Bonnie…” Chica sighed, “we should go after him.” Freddy nodded.

“And what exactly did ya think that would do lad?” Foxy grumbled. “He’s your brother. Ya should be more careful.” Toy Bonnie huffed. “If it’ll make ya feel better, I’ll tell ye what happened.” He said, and briefly went over the events of the previous night.  
“And you think the authorities are gon’ be alright with that?” Toy Bonnie asked.  
“It’s the only hope ye got, so don’t question it.” Foxy’s eyes flickered. It was his way of saying ‘shut up’.

The next few weeks were relatively quiet. The leaves outside were already starting to fall, and consequentially children were bringing in the biggest and prettiest to show their favorite characters. Mangle looked at the clock. Nobody would bring her any leaves. Most kids were too young to remember her. She’d decided to bring herself out of hiding for the day since Fritz had called off sick and they needed the extra security. Another body had been found last week. A little girl, barely six years old, stuffed into Chica this time. Once again it seemed the killer was making his rounds. 9:26. There was still time. She could still back out of this and pretend like nothing had ever happened. Dawn was probably waking up. Probably wondering where she was. Maybe she should have told them all what she was doing first. 9:28. No, too late now. BB gave her a grin from outside. He was probably going to hide in the vents or under people’s tables and not help her at all. 9:30

Today was Saturday. A busy day. The suspense was awful. It took over three hours for anyone to come into the cove. Everyone was busy playing with Foxy. Then just after twelve, a herd of youngsters rushed in. They stopped a few feet in. Mangle hadn’t noticed, she was busy re-organizing the crayon and pencil pots so that they each had two of each color. She was missing a pink one. “Wow… Toy Foxy…” The children were amazed, if a bit scared by this new characters rough appearance. Some older boys leaned over their booth in response to her old name. “Hey, look! Toxy’s back!” The boys left their seats. “I wonder if she’s still breakable” One joked. The others laughed. “I mean, one way to find out, right?” They advanced on kid’s cove. Mangle had been preparing for this day. She’d strengthened her will, her spirit, and most importantly, her joints.

She stood and smirked. “Oh hello again boys! I remember you all; you were the nice group that tried to rearrange my limbs so often. How are you, you’ve all grown so much!” She acted as naive and sweet as she used to so long ago. One of the boys grabbed her arm and pulled. “Hey, what gives?” He kept pulling, but nothing happened. One of his bigger friends gave it a go. Still nothing. “What gives? Well, not my arms obviously. In case you boys were unaware, I was the very first sentient robot in existence. I learnt how to rebuild myself. I would like to think I know what I'm doing.” She smiled sadistically.

“I also made a few… upgrades. I was getting sick of just crawling around on the floor, and only having one eye...” She extended her three clawed limbs, her second endo head, and eyed the boys menacingly. “Of course, my appearance is still... different. Scarred. And I have you to thank for that. Now I know you were all still young and stupid back then, but that's no excuse for ripping something to bits. Especially something that's alive. Especially something that... remembers ” She laughed softly. The other Toys had noticed her by now, and were eager to see what would happen. “I wonder... how you would feel if you were me? Fortunately for me, I don't keel over and bleed to death if someone tears off one of my legs.You boys on the other hand wouldn't last very long. I think. I'm not so versed on human anatomy. Perhaps I should test out that theory?” She tried to look as insane as she could. The boys looked at each other before dashing back to their seats. The toys clapped from up on stage.

The smaller children had not left however. They were still bewildered at how she knew those boys. She’s a new character, isn’t she? “Now that that’s taken care of… where is that gosh darn pencil?” She knelt down to search under the table. Just old wads of bubblegum. “Toy Foxy?” One of the smallest kids walked up to her and tugged at her skirt. “Please don’t call me that. What is it?” She turned around to face the girl, still on her hands and knees. The girl pressed the missing pencil at her face and rushed back to the huddle. Her display had caused most of the children to feel uneasy. “Thanks.” She picked it off the floor and put it with the others. “If you guy’s want to play don’t stop on my account.” She said. Some of the children took a few uneasy steps forward, followed by some more, and some more once they’d realized Mangle wasn’t going to eat them. The little girl didn’t. “Who are you?” She walked up to Mangle, who sat on the table looking disinterested. “You said my name.” She replied.

“But why don’t you like it?” The girl fished a lemon sweet out of her pocket and offered one to her new friend. “Because it’s a reminder.” She took the sweet from the girl’s hand. “A reminder of what? Do you not like Mr. Foxy?” She ate her sweet quietly and waited for an answer. “No. It’s a reminder that I used to be just a machine. A thing for kids like you to rip apart for your own amusement. I’m only here for security reasons.” She stared at her own sweet, not sure if she liked lemon or not. “I don’t think everyone’s like that. And you have to have a name. Everyone does.” She scrunched up her face as the sherbet center popped. “Fine.” She stuck out her still skin-covered hand. “Mangle.” She said coldly. The girl accepted it as a friendly gesture anyway. “Jenifer,” the girl said, “it’s nice to meet you miss Mangle.” So humanity had hope after all.

“What do you do normally?” She asked, unwrapping another sweet. Mangle chewed hers. Turns out she liked lemon. “Oh, don’t chew them, they’re really sour in the middle, and they’ll break your teeth!” She giggled as she ate another. Mangle was a man, she could handle it. “Not when you’ve got teeth that can tear through steel it won’t. I’m normally in parts and service. I wasn’t lying when I said I fixed myself. I work on the others too,since the mechanics lazy as he...eck” Jenifer studied her endoskeleton intently. “So this is what you look like underneath?” She poked at her exposed elbow joint. “Cool.” She said. Mangle moved her arm away. “You’ll hurt yourself if you keep poking there. I’ve trapped my fingers more than once.” She demonstrated, and displayed the small scars on her fingertips where she'd had to re-fuse the skin.

“So you don’t like us, do you?” Jenifer pointed to all of the kids messing around in the soft-play. “Not really. I was a toy for them to smash up. It’s why I changed my name. Plus it seemed like a good name since I’m god-awful to look at.” She scratched at one of the exposed wires. “I think you’re very pretty.” Jenifer reached up and patted her head. “Why don’t you sing on stage?” Mangle quickly looked at the floor. “I only sing when I’m alone or piss drunk. Don’t use that word.” Mangle sighed. “Besides, I’ve seen the way people look at me. I've come here a few times when the guys need spare props or on scene repairs. No matter how much I’ve patched myself up, I’m still just a broken mess of parts, and nobody thinks that's pretty. There are just some things I can't fix. If I performed on stage… I don’t think anyone would like that. Not the important people anyway.” She made a small sob. “Don’t be sad miss Mangle. And if you’ve never been on stage, then how come there are little plushies in the prize corner for a white and pink fox?” She offered the bag of sweets. “Thanks. There are plushies because Puppet stood my corner when it came to toy design. You can’t get a mini-Marie anymore because she swapped it for me. We get each other in that we're eyesores that scare people.”

The girl’s parents had arrived. “Jenny? Jenifer are you playing with the other children for once?” He mother stood at the cove entrance. Jenifer hopped off the table and dragged her mother by the sleeve. “Look! I made a friend!” She announced proudly. “Haigh.” Mangle gave a small wave and nodded. The woman just looked confused. “Um… come again?” She asked. She turned to her daughter in case she knew, but she just shrugged. “It’s Irish for hi.” She said. “Ah. So you’re Irish?” The mother asked. Mangle desperately wanted to scream ‘DUH!” or something of that nature, but this girl seemed nice. She didn’t want to ruin her day. “Cínte. Yes, I am. You’ve got a lovely daughter. Good at sharing anyway.” She tossed the sweet bag back at the two. “Yes, she is. You’ve missed out on dessert young lady. I told you you weren't allowed to play for long. And just how many of these were you planning on eating anyway?” She looked stern. Jenifer pulled at the bottom of her dress. “Sorry mom.” She waved. “Bye miss Mangle.”

Maybe this wasn't as dumb as she thought. The rest of that afternoon she was surrounded by small children who were fascinated by how robotics worked. She tried to teach them as much as she could. “It was fun.” She said. She was sat in the chair of doom recounting her day. The other animatronics stared at her. “What?” Mike walked over and put his hand to her forehead. “Nope, it’s not sickness. Definitely a defective clone. What have you done with the real mangle?!” He said finally. “Am I not allowed to enjoy other peoples company now?” She pouted. Chica shook her head. “No no! It’s not that! It’s just... you’re... T-Bone, help me!” She hissed at the rabbit sat by her side. “She’s sayin’ she don’t get why anyone would wanna spend time with you, cuz’ your face is all jacked up and you’re personality ain’t much better.” He summarised. Chica hit the back of his head. “Hey, it’s true!”  
“That’s not what she wants to hear or what she needs to hear either.” She folded her arms. “Sorry Chi, what did you expect?” He shrugged. Mangle curled into a ball.

Dawn was busy repairing a swing set when she retold the story of the kids and how mean Toy Bonnie was. “Don’t listen to them, your mother and I are very proud of you.” She winked at Mangle, who was busy messing with a computer chip. “Are we playing or not?” Vincent asked, shuffling a deck of cards. Marie nodded. “Unless Dawn is too invested in her work.” She said slyly. Dawn rolled her eyes and sat at the table. “How many cards does each person get again?” She asked. Mangle sighed. “Ten. How many times have we played this?” Ten cards were dealt to everyone. “I’m youngest so I’m Czar first.” Dawn announced. “’But before I kill you Mr. Bond, I must show you’ blank. Please, give me all the best cards. That means the worst cards.”

“’Erotic balloon animals’” This is what Freddy just walked in on and he immediately regretted it. “Marie, I swear to Christ if that was you again…” Dawn grumbled. Marie threw her hands up defensively. “Exsqeeze me? I already played that card on the first round, how could I do it again?” She said. “I mean, Netflix and erotic balloon animals do go hand in hand.”  
“The hell are you guy’s talking about?” Freddy asked, sitting at the table.  
“Don’t worry; you missed all our Adam Sandler talk.” Vincent reported.  
“Should I be relieved by that?”  
“Yes.” He replied.  
“Ugh… hate myself but I’m going with erotic balloons. Take the friggin’ card.” Dawn leaned back in her chair. “Thank you!” Mangle claimed her reward. Dawn sprang up again. “IT WAS YOU!” She screamed.

Back in the break room, Toy Bonnie was as moody as ever. “Are you kidding me? Look at you all! The walking scrap-heap and creep-fest are playing a stupid card game with the two dumbest humans on the planet, the top of the line security bots are all sitting in here watching some trash on TV an’ none of the guards are doing anything to try an’ stop this from continuin’! It’s pathetic!” He paced up and down. Toy Freddy looked up from his gameboy. “Oh would you just shut up for once?!” He said. Everyone, even T-Bone actually seemed genuinely shocked by this. Usually Toy Freddy kept quiet during Toy Bonnie’s outbursts. “Look, in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve spent the past month working as hard as physically possible. Right now, we’re having a break, because the last time I checked we had no leads and if we keep trying to pull answers out of thin air then we’re going to kill ourselves.” He went back to playing final fantasy. Willy had just passed away apparently. Time to go fight the tiger-bear again. The room was very quiet for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, if folks are reading this, then perhaps they could also send some feedback? I think I need some helpful criticism if I'm going to improve. Ask away on the blog if you wouldn't mind. I'd appreciate the help :D
> 
> https://therearemorethanfivenights.tumblr.com
> 
> I still can't work out how to make it a link yet...
> 
> Also! School starts next week, so Updates may be slower. Apologies in advance!


	6. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something spooky is going on around here.

The weeks passed by and soon it was Halloween. Each year the restaurant had seasonal parties for publicity. And by party, it basically meant that a bunch of menu items were changed to be spooky and put at a discount. Plus candy. Lots of candy. And children in costumes. The Toys didn’t perform as they normally would, rather the original gang kept the kids entertained. As well as the two oldest ‘living’ bots. “Hey, pass me the orange streamers.” Said one. Golden Freddy. Nobody was quite sure how he got here, or updated for that matter, but the most popular theory is that the company wanted to update Fredbear without keeping the same animatronic, since the incident. He was tall, but slouched, and constantly looked about like a scared animal or child. His eyes, much like the Puppet’s, were entirely missing, despite the shape of his eyelids trying to prove otherwise. The small white pupil dots were present with him too. His name would imply that he looked like Freddy. However, he was just lightly tanned, with golden hair and a thinner face. He wore a similar outfit, with a faded yellow shirt and a black waistcoat with matching dress pants and shoes. He had the same friendly appearance too, but seemed much shyer.

“S-s-sure.” The second stuttered. Spring Bonnie also never came out of hiding. However the difference was that Goldie at least occasionally left the boiler room to socialize or play the arcade games. Spring Bonnie hated leaving. They wore gold Capri pants a plain yellow blouse and a loose green cardigan, decorated with little spring flowers. Their hair had been tied into two small buns with a braided headband. They seemed a little out of place here, not only because of their bright spring-time colors and 90’s flair, but also because their legs were completely humanoid. They were a special kind of animatronic, built so that their endoskeleton could retract and leave a hollow inside. A combination of a costume and a robot. Due to an unfortunate series of accidents involving the type of bot they were at many different locations, every one was put out of service. When they were remodeled they asked to be kept as a hybrid, despite the function being useless, as a reminder of who they used to be. They were still old, making functioning as an entertainer difficult. 

“At least they’re not shoving us in costumes this time. I got sick of being vampire Freddy. I’m not sure what goes through peoples minds when they come up with this stuff.” Goldie joked, but Spring Bonnie just shivered nervously. “Hey, are you worried about being on stage? You don’t have to, just feign a sick or something and hang around Dawn for the day. She won’t mind, and nor will I. Ow!” He’d stapled his thumb to the side of the stage.  
“No… It’s… I-I-I-I don’t know. I-I just fe-e-el tense. I th-think it’s the…” Goldie stopped them. He prized his thumb from the stage. He hadn’t noticed the staples still hanging from his shirt and ears. “Don’t worry about it. Besides, why should you worry? If anything, I should be freaking out. But am I? No. Let’s just focus on these decorations. Let the others fix this.” They smiled at him.  
“Why don’t y-y-you h-elp them? Y-y-you know m-more about this g-g-guy.” The flickering lights in Goldie’s eyes dimmed.  
“I need the green ones now please.” 

“BOO!” Marie yelled, popping out from her box. “Did I scare you?” She laughed. Fritz was not scared. He was a young man of an average build with unruly brown hair, tanned skin and deep brown eyes. His shirt was never tucked in and he always looked tired. Somebody asked if he was stoned once. He looked up lazily from his newspaper. He was leaning casually against the wall to hide the fact that he was panicking. He’d forgotten his ID badge at home, and his dad couldn’t bring it in for him. “No.” He adjusted his glasses. “Nice try though. Next time maybe don’t say boo. It’s kinda cliché at this point.” He went back to reading. Marie frowned.  
“Time of the month Fritzy? Forgot your badge again?” She shuffled some of the prize tags around so they were more visible. “Yes, thank for noticing.” He said. Hopefully none of the admin staff would come in today.

“What was all that yelling about? Some of us have jobs to do.” Goldie poked his head around the door.  
“Just Marie getting into the ‘spirit’ of things.” Fritz finally cracked a smile. Goldie made finger guns as he walked back out.  
“You’re lucky that I have a duty in child care or I’d be making finger paintings with your blood right now.” Marie growled. Fritz shrugged.  
“Mike’s busy playing detective apparently, so somebody has to annoy you.” He continued snickering to himself. The Puppet growled.

Technically speaking, Fritz was supposed to be looking out for the safety of the customers here too. But it was very rare that a daytime incident couldn’t be solved by Vincent or one of the animatronics. He sometimes wondered why they kept him around, but he was grateful for it. Even if all he was good for was settling petty squabbles. “Anyway, I don’t know about you but if that bratty 10 year old rich kid comes in here again I swear I’m going to drop kick him. I’m not kidding.” Marie giggled. She often toyed with the thought of kicking toddlers to death. “Marie, are you sure you’re safe to work in this environment?” Fritz replied, but he shared her view. From what they could gather this kid was called Thomas and he really wanted a Gameboy. Or twelve. He played on the arcades for hours before his dad (or butler) came to collect him. He probably sold them to his poorer friends for even more money, Marie thought. She didn’t like him. He was eight and that was already what he was thinking about? What was she doing at his age?

“Hey d-d-day-d-dream-mer,” Spring Bonnie dumped the empty boxes of decorations on the box lid. They slid off with a small series of bumps. “No-o-t my p-p-problem,” They laughed. “Are you ever going to fix your voice box Springy-B? You sound like a dying toaster.” Marie muttered as the golden bunny left. She adjusted the music box settings. A loud rendition of spooky scary skeletons began playing. “Spoopy.” She said as Fritz covered his ears.  
“I hate this damn holiday.”

“I hate this damn holiday.” Toy Bonnie said unhappily, stomping into the break room. Balloon Boy looked confused.  
“But, it’s the best holiday! Well, except Christmas. And Easter, or April fools… Ooooo, pancake day!” He said. Toy Bonnie groaned again and flopped onto the sofa.  
“I think what Blue is trying to say is he misses people looking at his pretty face.” Toy Chica giggled, “Don’t worry; we’ll be back on-stage tomorrow. Besides, nobodies going to come in until after 3 at least. It’s Friday.” She patted him on the back.  
“Yaaay.” He cheered with little enthusiasm. Toy Freddy looked at his friend with disappointment.  
“It’s been like this for the past five years. Surely you can handle not breaking into song for one day?” He sighed.

Toy Chica was right of course. Virtually nobody turned up until 4pm, so there would have been nobody to entertain. When they did arrive though, they all rushed straight to the stage. “Having fun boys?” Vincent asked, strolling towards the cove. Foxy and Mangle were almost rendered useless since today everyone wanted to play with Goldie and Springy. “Ouch, my feelings.” Mangle twittered. Foxy snarled. “Foxy, down boy.” Mangle flicked his nose, much to Vincent’s amusement. As much as today was supposed to be about fear, he had decided to express a different emotion. “Listen, Mangle, I was… uh, wondering…” He began to say. Foxy picked up on this immediately.  
“What were ye wondering lad?” He said slyly. Vincent was terrified of him and he knew it.  
“Uh, I was wondering if… uh, you said you were going to try to beat that one kid at Galaga, right? I thought you should probably do it now, y;know? Nobody’s in the arcade, so, yeah.” He said, taking a deep breath. It wasn’t this hard the first time. Though the first time there was no mechanical fox ready to eat him.

“Sure, good idea.” Mangle said, beaming. “Foxy, why don’t you stay here in case anyone turns up.” She said. This was it, she thought. Time to say some things she’d regret forever. “Good idea. Fritz can cover the dining hall instead. Tell Marie she still owes me a plushie of meself.” Foxy said. Oh yeah, Marie was stuck in there all day, wasn’t she.  
“Okay. Féach tú!” She tried to sound upbeat. Foxy grinned. He’d known for a lot longer than either of them what was going on, and he was determined to stop it. So far, it was going pretty well.

“Ah, shite!” Mangle slammed her fist onto the controls. “Stupid game.” She grumbled. Her hand hurt now.  
“You know, I don’t thing smashing every button is a good strategy. Plus your boyfriend’s paying for it if you break it.” Marie remarked, handing over a laser pen. Vincent blushed. “Not funny spaghetti legs.” Mangle put another coin into the machine. The lights blinked on the screen. “Oh great. I broke it.” She tapped furiously at the buttons.  
“Whoa, don’t do that you’ll just break it more!” Marie clambered out of her box and pulled herself over to the machine. “The hell?” The blinking got worse.  
“Ok, nobody look at the screen! I don’t want to be responsible for anyone dying. I heard about the thing on Pokémon once.” Vincent said, ushering the children away from the game. Two kids were still stood squabbling. “Hey, kids, I said to keep out of here.” He walked over to them. It was the boy with the laser pointer, and a ten year old in some expensive looking clothes. “Screw off jerkwad!” The rich boy turned to him and stuck his tongue out. He then turned his attention back to the smaller boy, who was trying to slink away. “Hey, I’m not done with you!” He called at him. The boy squealed and ran behind the girls still baffled by the machine.

“Oh hello young man,” Marie looked over toward the rich kid. “Is he bothering you?” The boy at her ankles nodded. Mangle sighed.  
“Do you want to sort this out?” She asked. Marie shook her head. “No, but it’s not like I have much choice. Stupid brat. Look after the little guy, 'kay?” She stomped over to the new conflict. Vincent had tried to stop him from running after his victim. Mangle took the small boys hand and led him back out. “Marie? Help please!” Vincent said, desperately struggling to keep the child still. “Let go of me! My dad’s gonna sue you!” He protested as he squirmed around. Marie knelt down so that she was at eye level with him. The pupils of her eyes disappeared. Her eyes narrowed into a scowl, yet as always, she never stopped smiling. Even Vincent’s stomach was twisting into knots. The boy’s eyes widened. “Now you listen here, sir.” She said, teeth clenched, “I’m not sure who your ‘dad’ is 'Thomas', but I’m confident that he wants his son back in one piece. So what’s going to happen is your going to apologize to that boy for bullying him, to my friend for hurting him when he was trying to do his job and to me for wasting my god damn time. Then you’re going to leave quietly, and neither of us will speak of today. Got it? Good.” She got back up and dusted herself of. Vincent released the boy. “Sorry Mr. security man.” He said. He then walked out and could be heard saying sorry faintly from the other side.

“Kids, right? The entitled ones are the worst.” Marie joked. Vincent tried to laugh, but he was busy checking for bruises. “Thanks Pup. You’re a real asset to the team.” He smiled at her. “Now, what the actual truck is going on with Galaga?” They both observed the screen that was now nothing but static and hissing. It buzzed a while, and then suddenly a game booted up. “What even? This isn’t even another arcade game.” Marie said. “It looks kinda Atari-ish. Wait, is that Freddy?” A pixel bear appeared on-screen, followed by the rest of the game. “Hey, that’s you!” Vincent pointed to a pixel puppet that seemed to be leading them around. “Do we follow her?” He asked. Marie shrugged, and tried to move the joystick. The buttons began to press at random. “Ok, maybe get Dawn?” Vincent glanced at the door. “No, I think we should follow them.” She said. Her face looked stoic and brave, but she had snatched Vincent’s hand and was gripping it as tightly as she could. “You ok?” He asked.

The tiny puppet lead them through the virtual pizzeria halls. “Are those…” She began to say.  
“Dead people. Those are the dead kids from ten years ago.” Vincent said. Her grasp grew tighter. “Look, we should stop. Let’s go, this is freaking us both out.” He tried to pull her away. There was nothing going on on-screen, the puppet had flown out of the room. “Listen, Vincent? I… I think I should probably tell you something.” She said, trembling. “But if I tell you, you need to promise me you won’t tell anyone else. That part is very important. I feel like given the shit we’re seeing now… you’re probably the only one who’s going to believe me.”

“Believe what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH! FINALLY! I CAN WRITE! I hope I haven't made anyone wait at all.
> 
> I still require critique! https://therearemorethanfivenights.tumblr.com/ would be best but comments are fine too.  
> Or you can ask about things. Or tell me what your favorite flavor of ice cream is. I don't mind.
> 
> On another note, almost 100 people have seen this little story of mine! Or at least one guy has viewed it a lot. If so, well done to you my friend. Dedication will get you everywhere in life. But in all seriousness, I'm actually really happy about that. In fact I was really happy when it was only ten. I never expected anyone to pay it any attention. Thanks!


	7. The Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spooky ghosts and terrible music.

“I want to ask you this first. Do you remember a girl called Marie-Rose?” The puppet sat down on the edge of her box, afraid she would fall over.  
“Uh… I don’t… Oh, wasn’t she the girl who always came in here? She’d sit by your box for hours just listening to your music. She was really sweet. I mean, she was super Goth or whatever, but nice. I spoke with her a few times I think. Mostly when I had days off since I was too tired from the night shifts most of the time.” He said, remembering her. Black clothes, piercings, dark hair. “We became friends pretty fast mind. She liked to tell me her secrets because I was the one person she knew that wouldn’t get freaked out and tell anyone. I told her some of mine actually. I do miss her sometimes.” He said. “Why do you ask?”

The puppet took a deep breath.

“Ten years ago I smashed someone’s mailbox with a baseball bat. An old lady. Super nice. I got away with it. You told me how when you were a kid you shoplifted more than once. I broke into an abandoned factory just to sit and cry. You made an RC car out of trash when you were ten. You called it Sonic because it was blue. I’m not a virgin. Your first kiss was In a place called cherry grove park when you were fourteen, but you didn’t get the name because it wasn’t a grove and the only fruit tree was a crab-apple tree that never flowered.” She listed. Vincent stared at her. “Oh, my dog, if he’s still alive, still doesn’t like you. I doubt if your cat were still here she’d like me now either.” She brushed her hair out of her face.

“What the fuck.” Vincent stuttered. How the hell did she find those things out, about himself and Marie-Rose too?  
“Do I need to say more? I’m sure Mangle would like to know a bunch of stuff about your ex-wife. Eileen wasn’t it? Is she still acting?” It was freaking him out.  
“Seriously how the fuck do you know all that? Did she tell you? No, you were unconscious then.” He thought a moment. “No, no that’s stupid. And impossible.” He racked his brain to come up with a logical explanation. Marie-Rose died before The puppet had gained consciousness. There was no way she could have found out those things from her. “What about Scott? I bet you still have a crush on him. Actually, am I still the only one that knows you’re bi still? Or did you finally grow a pair and admit it to everyone else. Because I have a bet with Toy Chica, who is very much convinced you don’t swing that way.” She smirked at him. “$20” She added.  
“Ok, firstly, why the hell would you bet on that, I feel violated, and secondly, how do you know this?!” His brain felt numb, he couldn’t think of any reason for this.

“Because I am her. And she is me.” Marie said plainly. “I thought you might be the better choice since I could tell you all that embarrassing stuff that only I know.” She tried to keep her brave façade, but she looked desperate. “This is a lot to take in.” He said, collapsing on the floor.  
“I know. It was a lot for me too.” She sighed. “But if this is the same killer then I want some justice. And you’re head of security, so I don’t think it will do me any favors keeping it a secret from you that I, Marie-Rose Sanderson, was murdered on this day ten years ago.” She proclaimed. “I never want to say that again.” Her smile faded.  
“So… if… if this is real… do you know who did it?” Vincent asked.  
“No. I keep thinking I’ll know who it is when I see them, but I probably wouldn’t. I don’t remember much about that night. I talked to someone, I followed them somewhere, he said something, and then I was gone. That’s about it.”

“Great. Convenient amnesia is convenient. Don’t you remember anything?” Vincent asked, getting back up. Marie walked back over to the arcade game, which was still running. “No. I don’t remember his name, or face, or voice. I do remember one thing though. He said two words just as he left me to die.” Vincent took the controls this time. He entered the next room. A tall purple figure was standing at the side. “Uh…” Then the sound turned itself on. ‘S-A-V-E T-H-E-M’. “Save them…” Marie repeated. The second he moved forward, the purple figure lunged towards the Freddy sprite before blue static fizzled on the screen. Purple sparks flew off the machine. “Whoa! Did I do that?" He stepped back in surprise. “Well ok then. So... do you know what he said?” He asked. Marie stood staring at the screen in fear.  
“That.” She murmured. The screen flickered with blue and two words flashed on and off before the machine died

‘You can’t.’

“Hey guys? What’s going on in here?” Dawn came in. “I heard a game was broke.” She said. Marie looked at Vincent.  
“Yeah, I tried fixing it, but I’m no expert.” He nodded at Marie. The mechanic walked up to them and checked the back of the machine.  
“Well, I’m not sure how it turned on in the first place. It’s unplugged.” She observed, plugging the game back in. When it came back on there was no static or noise. Just the right sounds and Galaga. “Huh. Maybe Mangle shook it so hard it came out. Classic case of turning it on and off again.” Marie said, still shaken. “I guess the kids can come back in now.” She said and opened the doors back up, kicking the doorstop into place. “Fine, I’m going back to nap-time now. I’m an old lady and I need rest.” Dawn yawned and left.  
“Well that was messed up.” Vincent said. “So… you never told anyone about Scott… right?” He asked. Marie looked down and messed up Vincent’s hair.  
“I might have, I might have not. But does that really matter?” She asked him.  
“Yes! It very much does matter! I mean, it shouldn’t, but it does!” He complained.  
“You sound like mangle talking about the guy she likes.” Marie snickered, getting back in her box.  
“Wait, what?”

“He’s just some guy, comes in here a lot, you’ve probably seen him. You just wouldn’t have known that Mangle's fallen really badly for him.” Marie explained. “He’s like, kinda tall, pretty athletic, really good looking, dark hair…” She continued. Vincent’s face fell. He’d expected to get over his strange superficial crush by now, but it was only getting worse. Hearing that she liked someone was almost heartbreaking and he couldn’t understand it. “Really? Anything else I should know about this handsome mysterious stranger that she’s into all of a sudden?” He sighed.  
“Well… I’m going to tell you two more things that will certainly make you feel better. First is that he’s got different colored eyes, one green one blue.” He looked up. He had those eyes! “What’s the second thing?” He had to be sure; maybe she’d say he was some random dad she’d met or something.  
“The second thing is that this damn soap opera between you two has gone on too long, so I’m playing cupid for her.” His face lit up. “You’re not the only person whose secrets I’ve been keeping.”

“Oh god, ah, ‘scuse me, sorry!” Chica was trying her best to worm her way through the crowds of children happily rushing about the pizzeria. “Dawn! I see you over there young lady!” She squeezed through the huddles. Dawn looked up from her phone.  
“Hey Chikachu, what’s up? I was just heading back to my room.” She waved.  
“Oh, sorry then, I was just going to ask if we could maybe get some new batteries. Ours wear down way too fast. Freddy has literally just passed out backstage. I think we’re a little better, but I know I can’t manage 48 sleepless hours. And the whole point of robotic entertainment is that we don’t need breaks so-” Dawn stopped her before she could waffle anymore. “Everyone’s getting new batteries. Even the toys. The big folks decided our investigation is going way too slow, so they’ve invested in batteries that last well over a month. Looks like they’re actually helping for once. I’ve already done the toys since they were busy with nothing.” She said. Chica clapped with excitement.  
“Oh, wonderful! I’ll let Bonnie know, and we can get it all sorted now. I’m sure Freddy can wait a little while."

Two hours later and Bonnie and Foxy both felt like they’d taken several shots of pure caffeine. “So, now I needn’t be takin’ any naps? No sleep for a month?” Foxy seemed pleased with the arrangement. “Yup. Isn’t technology marvelous?” Dawn said. It was Chica’s turn.  
“Um, boys? If you wouldn’t mind?” She said, swiveling her finger in a circle. Bonnie elbowed Foxy.  
“Oh, you’re right lass, sorry.” The pair turned around. Dawn groaned.  
“Ugh, bra straps are such a pain.” She fumbled around trying to undo it.  
“Yes, but a necessity. An awful necessity.” Chica agreed. It was then that Freddy wobbled into the room. “Dawn I- Oh dear!" He shielded his eyes and looked at the floor.  
“Oh no worries Freddy dear, it’s not your fault.” Chica said. It didn’t really help much.  
“Right, um, Dawn, I know you clearly don’t, but do you have a minute?” 

“Sure my dude. What do you need?” She said, still struggling to find the button to open Chicas back.  
“Hold on, I can wait. This seems important.” She held up the front of her dress and hopped off the table. “You can look now children, I’m decent.” She announced.  
“Aw.” Foxy and Bonnie sighed, which was met with some stern looks from both Chica and Freddy.  
“Now, now, what sort of reaction is that? I’m disappointed in you both.” She said. Oh no, not the disappointment. Freddy sat down on the table.  
“It’s just…” He began, but Dawn immediately gagged. Foxy and Bonnie both sniffed the air and responded quite similarly.  
“I have a pain in my stomach.” He said. It was hard to scare Freddy. And Freddy looked terrified. Dawn didn’t even bother to check. The smell was enough to tell.

Fritz came in to find out why nobody had left parts and service. Surely Dawn would be done by now. Hopeful Vincent could manage on his own, but come to think of it, he hadn’t seen him in a while either. Was he still in the arcade? What could be so interesting there? “What’s going on guys? I thought you were just changing the old batteries?” He said walking into parts and service. The room was deathly quiet. “Is it…” They all nodded slowly. He backed away slightly. “Wow, uh… oh shit what do I do?” He had never been witness to this before since usually they found out after his shift. It was all becoming increasingly real. “Close the doors for a start. I don’t think it’d be cool if some kid wanders in here and finds all this.” 

Despite his better judgement, Fritz decided to take a peak. “It’s sick. That’s what this is. I mean, I heard about it before, and I’m not sympathizing with the murderer here, but doing this was ok before.” Everyone looked in his direction, shocked, “I don’t mean killing people, I mean what he did with the bodies. Like, I know it was bad before, but at least then-” It was then Marie and Vincent walked in to the warehouse.  
“He means it’s worse because we’re alive this time, here to witness it properly.” Marie said. Vincent tossed the safe room key onto the table by Freddy.  
“The second the last customer’s gone you’re in there. We’ve just had a chat with Jay’s parents, asked if they could do anything. We need to speed things up.” He sat down and began chewing his nails. “He’s right. From what I remember, there were five children killed on the exact same dates.” Freddy said. “We have until after Christmas if he’s going about it in the same way.” The others nodded.

“What about the girl that went missing the night the first kid died? What if we tried looking for her? Maybe she ran away so the killer wouldn’t find her. She was the first ones sister right? They found her blood nearby. Maybe she was attacked? If she’s alive, we could find her, and then we’d know who this killer is!” Chica said. Vincent sighed.  
“She’s dead.” He said plainly. Once again everyone looked shocked. Freddy stared at the key in his hand.  
“How do you know? They couldn’t find her body.” He asked. Marie looked at him and shook her head. He wasn’t planning on saying what she thought he was.  
“They did. You may not know about it, but they found her body in a ditch. Nothing but bones.” A lie, nobody knew where she was.

It took a long time for everyone to finally clear out. They didn’t have much time to clear up, since a large group of teens had paid to have a party there. Something along the lines of not wanting to bother the neighbours, but the most likely cause was that the night guards sometimes helped them smuggle in alcohol in return for not shouting or playing music too loud. “Hey, think we can get into the arcade?” A guy was busy chatting to his girlfriend, presumably to find someplace empty to engage in underage shenanigans. “Pfft, no, why would it be. I mean, we could try to unlock it.” She smiled and fluttered her eyelashes. They both slunk away from other kids playing spin the bottle and taking shots.

“You guys hear about the missing kids?” A group were sat around the mock DJ booth on the stage. “Yeah. I heard a rumour that the killer’s an ex-employee out for revenge.” A girl took a sip of beer. As she suspected, watered down. Another girl laughed. “Come on Sophia, no way. My dad says it’s that old animatronic. The yellow one that nobody talks about anymore.” Her friends snickered. “What? It’s possible.”

From the shadows, the animatronics watched over the party carefully. It was unlikely that the killer would strike given the pattern they displayed before, but they weren’t taking any chances, especially given that these kids were all possible witnesses of the first set of murders. “Do you think it’d be better if we actually asked these kids if they saw anything?” Toy Chica asked. She just desperately wanted to make some friends that weren’t small kids or their mothers. “If you want to go party sweetie, nobodies stopping you.” Chica sighed. Toychi punched the air victoriously and skipped away. A group of girls called out and invited her to play truth or dare. Bonnie chuckled. “Aaaand she’s gone.” He said. Chica didn’t laugh back. Her cousin was a vulnerable baby that needed to be protected. Her eyes stopped scanning the crowds and fixed on Toychi.

The guards were busy playing poker in the break room. “Goldie, quit making card castles.” Mike flicked the card tower. Goldie frowned as he collected the rubble from off of the floor. “The only thing you’re hurting are my feelings Mike. Maybe you should talk to someone about all that repressed anger.” He said. A woman sat next to him giggled. “Yeah Mikey, all this unhealthy card damage isn’t good for you.” She was short and pretty, with flowing blond hair. She wore a denim skirt with fishnets, a beaded choker and a pale blue tank top. All of last years fashion trends in one outfit.  
“Amy, please, I need to look angry and intimidating for the subordinate. Else I’ll lose control and he’ll lead an uprising against me.” Amy was Mike’s long suffering girlfriend, who decided she had nothing better to do than sit in a dimly lit room and play cards. “Fair enough, I'm sure tiny here is very dangerous.” She said, looking at Jeremy. “Got any threes? I might be able to call Uno at this rate.” She smirked. Mike groaned. “That’s not how this works and you know it.”

“Daaaaawwwwn” Marie cried, beating her head against the wall. “They’re playing shitty music again Daaaaawwwwn. It’s not even Halloween themed Daaaaawwwwn. They’ve played that fucking soulja boy song like a hundred times Daaaaawwwwn.” She slumped against the shack defeated. “I can’t tell what’s more annoying, that song or you complaining about it.” Dawn said, polishing an arm joint. “Why don’t you just go to sleep or something? You need energy too.” She gestured to Mangles nest, where the occasional sound of radio static could be heard. “Some one needs to tell her about that. One day she’ll interfere with air traffic or something. That’ll be fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Puppet is actually a ghost? What a twist that nobody saw coming!  
> On another note I'm doing a thing for getting 100 hits. You can find it here when it's done:  
> https://therearemorethanfivenights.tumblr.com/


	8. Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some snow arrives. Some feelings are expressed. Rocks are evil, don't put them in snowballs, ok kids?  
> Y'know that shipping tag I put in? Here's why!

Not long after the first week of November, snow started to fall. It began with short flurries that turned into violent blizzards. Some talked about it like doomsday, saying it was the coldest winter on record. It was 6ft deep in some places. The natural urban heat bubble had kept the town clear from that. On Christmas day, the restaurant was closed. All of the employees went home to spend Christmas with their families, except for Vincent and Dawn, who didn’t have any family to visit. They were outside with all the animatronics and were busily preparing defences for the upcoming snow war.

“Hey, that tower should be taller. They can throw over it.” Freddy was spearheading the construction of a mighty fort, whereas Marie was planning smaller barricades with the toys. “Hey, I’ve made snow castles before; I know what I’m doing.” Bonnie complained. He had tried to convince the others that wasting time on a giant castle was pointless, since all the fancy details would end up as a mound of slush at the end of the day. “Ye just be salty that we didn’t listen to yer ideas.” Foxy was putting the finishing touches on a little snow cannon. “No I’m not. I’m just saying-” Chica threw a snowball at him before he could continue. Where’s the fun in winning? Isn’t the point of a fight that both sides end up hurt? Why should snow be any different?” She continued making little gargoyles at the entrance. “What are you? A fortune cookie?” Bonnie wiped the frost off his jacket, just as more snow came tumbling down on top of him.

“Oops. Bonnie, you ok?” Goldie asked, peering down from the fort wall. He and Vincent had been trying to make a doorway stable enough to stand on. “I told you, structural engineering is not my thing.” They both slid down. The toys had noticed and had begun laughing. “D’aww, did the widdle bunny get covered in snow?” Toy Freddy chuckled. They had almost finished making their defenses and had begun to gather snowballs. “Looks like you need a better architect, huh? Hey, BB, what did we say about putting rocks in the snowballs. Humans aren’t immune to stones you know, someone will get hurt.” Toy Chica frowned. Balloon Boy returned the expression as she began to sift through his pile to check for more gravel. “But, Mangle said it was ok! And she’s older!” He pushed her away from his arsenal and waved his arm over at Mangle, who was sat on a nearby bench drinking cocoa. She shrugged at them both. “He needs to learn ruthlessness. How are you going to win without playing dirty? So what if someone loses a few teeth. It’s all in good fun!” She laughed. Toychi remained unimpressed, but BB smiled and went back to stuffing pebbles into the already icy snow.

“This is a kids game, not a bar fight. He doesn’t need to be ruthless.” She took the snowballs back from him again. She sighed. “Plus, it’s your freaking boyfriend he’s going to be hitting.” She smirked. Mangle spat out cocoa everywhere and began choking. “Oh my god, what happened? Spider Fox is down.” Marie rushed over to her and began hitting her back. Toychi snickered and folded her arms. “I’m just telling the truth! And if they get together you owe me $20.” She said. Marie looked displeased. "Whether or not they end up canoodling has nothing to do with what we're betting on. You should know that, it was you're idea." Mangle had finished spluttering her drink everywhere. Patches of snow were starting to melt around her. “Ow, I think I got some in my vocal… yep, I did.” A horrible sound echoed through the street. She hit her throat a few times. “Dumb thing. There. Look, I’d love to get you some spare cash, but there’s just one little issue.” She said, pointing at Foxy.

“Hey honey bon-bon, catch!” Dawn hurled a snowball at Toy Bonnie. “Ha!” She laughed as it hit its mark. T-bone groaned and rubbed the back of his head angrily. “Hey, foul play! That’s against the rules! Someone disqualify her!” He said, tossing another back at her, only for it to miss. “Sorry dude, it’s just the golden oldies are taking waaaay too loooong.” She giggled. Toy Freddy joined her. “Come on, it’s just a game. Since when did snowball fights have rules anyway?” He threw one at Dawn, which knocked her flat. “AH, FRICK!” She said, clutching her shin. Everyone had noticed at this point. “What the hell?” Toy Freddy looked down at the pile he’d grabbed from. BB’s pile. “BB, why the heck did you lace these things?” BB just shuffled his feet and pointed at Mangle. “Ok, game paused whilst Dawn stops dying.” Chica said, walking over to help her sit up. “It couldn’t have been that bad, could it? I mean, I know you have tiny noodle legs, but…” She rolled up her jean leg. “Oh, it was bad. BB what did you put in those, glass?” Dawns shins had been badly scraped up.

Dawn had gotten over it pretty quickly. “Is it going to scar? I hope it scars. I’m gonna tell everyone I got mauled by a bear!” She said, still buzzing with energy. Toy bonnie smirked. “I mean, you kinda did. I guess this is more fun.” He said. Dawn walked back over to her wall. “Maybe it’s a sign. Nothing but my own team can knock me dooowwaaaahhhhh!” She slipped on a patch of ice, landing face first. “I’m ok.” She said. Everyone didn’t know whether or not they should laugh. Chica sighed, going to help her up again. She now had a black eye and small drops of blood dripped from her nose. “Ok, I’m keeping you out of the game. No more snow for you. You’re a health hazard, begone.” Chica pointed towards the door. Dawn shuffled carefully and painfully towards the door, holding her nose to try and stop the bleeding. Toy Bonnie made a face. “Great, now it’s not fair, you’ve got an extra.” He said. Mangle pointed at herself and scoffed. “What does that make me? Do I not count anymore?” She pouted jokingly. Chica rolled her eyes and went back to the fort.

“What? You can’t just leave us down a man, we’re outnumbered!” T-Bone continued. Vincent and Goldie were still trying to fix the door. “Oh if you’re that bothered let Mangle play. Just because she’s a bit broken…” Goldie began. But Chica’s mothering wasn’t finished. “Absolutely not! Not in her condition. A flimsy cotton blouse isn’t going to stop the cold. And you’re arms and legs and your eye… what would happen if someone hit your eye?” She tutted and folded her arms. Mangle just shrugged. “Probably nothing. It’s already basically scrap and I can’t see sh… anything out of it anyway.” She said, but Chica's expression wasn’t to be questioned however, so she just let it go. At this, Vincent threw his hands in the air. “Alright, if the rodent wants balance, I’ll sit out.” He said. Goldie tried to get him to stay. “And what about the super awesome fort?” But he was already gone.

“So…” Mangle said. It was awkward being pressed up on the tiny kid’s bench with nothing but a blanket between them. “Yeah…” Vincent replied. He didn’t like it either. The toys had moved away from the playgrounds outer defenses, so they were basically alone if they kept their voices low. “Um… can I… talk to you about something?” He asked. Mangle froze. “Oh my god who told you? Look, I know it’s weird, and I’m so sorry, I just… it just happened. I didn’t want it to, and I know it’s creepy and gross…” She said all at once. She was shivering and a lump was forming in her throat. This wasn’t what Vincent was expecting. “Um… what? I was just going to ask if it was true but this works.” He said. “But I was probably going to say something similar anyway so…” He slumped over. His ribs hurt and the cold wasn’t helping.

“R-really?” She was crying now. All of this was exhausting. “I was just, scared. And… yeah…” She wiped the tears away as best she could, but some had already found their way through a little gap in her cheek. “I don’t blame you. But know this. I am never going to hear the end of this…” Vincent joked. It was true though. And the proof of this was striding towards them. “Ah-ha! I heard that! Marie! You owe me a twenty!” Toychi squawked. Mangle stared hard at the ground. “F-off chicken wings.” She growled. “Nuh uh! HEY EVERYONE! THE TRASH AND THE GARBAGE ARE TOGETHER FINALLY!!” She screamed as loudly as her voice box let her. Suddenly all eyes were on them. Vincent pulled the hood of his coat up and drew his knees close, perching on the bench as best he could. “Not listening.” He murmured, shrinking into the coat as far as it would allow.

Foxy was the first to react. “What did ye just say?” He asked. “What did ye just call me little sister? And who is she with?” Of course he knew the answers to all of these questions. He snarled. Nobody was going to hurt his baby sister. Not ever. His gaze fixed on the huddled figure squashed up on the bench next to her. “What did I tell ye lad, ye stay away from her? And did ye? Ah well, now I finally get to use me hook for tearing up a real crook!” He growled and launched himself at the two. Vincent managed to get up in time, leaving Foxy flailing on top of Mangle. “Would you mind?! This is my business you know.” She said, shoving him off into the snow. By this point Vince had run inside and barricaded the door. “Come out here so I can gut ye like the slimy eel ye are!” Foxy yelled, scraping at the door. Everyone sighed. “Well isn’t this just the most romantic thing we’ve seen all year.” Marie sighed.

Mike had finished lunch and was taking a stroll with Amy through the snow. “So then… oh my freaking god.” He looked over towards the playground, where between a medieval fort and some army barricades, was a metal fox banging furiously at the pizzeria’s side door, another which was sick of her life, and a voice from behind the door that was screaming for help. “I don’t even want to ask, but what the hell happened here?” Amy looked at the gathering with concern. Toy Freddy walked over to the fence. “Uh, Dawn smashed her face on some ice, runt got salty about the teams not being fair so Vincent stepped out. He went and sat next to Mangle and took the opportunity to quietly discuss his feelings with her. Toy Chica decided this information needed to go public so it did. Then Foxy got mad and now we’re here.” He said.

“I see…” Mike said, observing the chaos. “Does someone want to tell him he’s over-reacting? Because I sure as hell don’t.” A loud, girlish scream was heard as Foxy’s hook finally punctured the door. “Ack! It’s stuck! Vincent, help!” Foxy wailed, but Vincent had already took off inside. “Bugger! Somebody get me out!” He yelped. Mike sighed as he went to help the trapped hook. “This is why we don’t throw tantrums at our friends. Now what do we say? We say ‘sorry Vincent for trying to skewer you in the face.” Everyone was laughing now. Foxy adjusted his hook so it was back at the right angle. He grumbled and went to sulk in the snow fort. “D’awww poor Foxy.” Toy Chica giggled. Mangle glared at her. “You’re the one who started this bloody mess in the first place!” She yelled. She stormed over to the door and slammed it shut behind her.  
“Jesus, somebody’s got issues.” Toy Chica kept laughing. Marie hit her with one of BB’s rock-snowballs. “Yeah, you. Drop the subject.” She’d been waiting for her two best friends to get together; she wasn’t going to let someone ruin it. “Are we even going to- oh, guess the fights off.” She pointed up to the sky, were grey clouds were gathering and flakes of white had begun to fall. “Yeah, good idea. Everyone, inside, we can play another time.” Freddy announced. “Mike, Amy, you’re welcome to stay too.” He held the door open as everyone headed inside.

“Ugh, no! Stop! Ah!” BB squealed and flailed his arms as Marie wrestled a towel over him. “Sit still! Your servos will get rusty if you stay covered in snow.” He managed to crawl away, his hair sticking up in all directions. “Ha ha! You look ridiculous!” Toy Bonnie laughed, before a towel began to loom over his head. “Nuh uh, I’m doing that myself!” He said grabbing the cloth and scampering away. “I don’t need you mothering me. Or smothering me either.” He carefully patted himself down, being careful not to ruin his hair. Marie sighed. “Where do you think the lovebirds flew off to?” She asked. She was greeted with shrugs. “Eh, who cares? I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Mike said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy bujeezus. I live! So, long story short, the last months of 2017 weren't great, so I've had to put off writing for a while. Here's a life lesson you never thought you'd read on a video game AU fan-fic, don't get hung up on the stuff you can't change, because it WILL mess you up.
> 
> On a lighter note, we have this! And I'm even starting some of the stuff from the next few parts! Ain't it great?  
> Hey, remember the tumblr link? You should, it's in every other note section I've written. Well, head on down there if you want, since I've decided to be a sap and put my feelings into words. http://therearemorethanfivenights.tumblr.com/


	9. Some Curiosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things are explained. That is all.

“So, what now?” Amy asked. The wind had started to howl through the small gap under the door. “Aw man, are we gonna get snowed in?” She scooted herself further from the door so the draft stopped biting at her ankles. “Uh, I don’t think it’s going to be that bad.” Freddy sat himself down at one of the tables. Through the windows by the coves, a blizzard was beginning to stir. BB and Toy Bonnie wandered over to sit and watch it pile up by the glass. Foxy glared at everyone a while before returning to pirates cove. Toy Chica kicked the floor. “Sorry, I guess.” She muttered.

“Sorry for what? You’re not really apologizing to anyone in particular. Go find them and say it.” Marie said. The others nodded. Toychi looked a little offended as if she thought her apology was enough but didn’t protest. “Fine…” She said, heading off towards parts and service. “I suppose she didn’t mean to cause such a fuss…” Freddy said, watching her leave. “I don’t think she’s really used to adult feelings,” Chica replied. She often forgot how new to the world her little cousin still was.

Bonnie decided to investigate the snowdrift. “You think we’re actually going to get snowed in this time?” He sat down and crossed his legs as best as they would allow, looking at the powdery white storm outside. BB gulped nervously. Toy Bonnie shook at his shoulder. “Don’t be ridiculous. But it’s kinda weird. We don’t normally get this kinda stuff. What d’ya think caused it?” He pressed himself onto the glass, staring in wonder at the spectacle outside. “I dunno. Global warming or something.” Bonnie continued to stare into the white abyss. He could see onto the street, as car headlights pushed on. BB shook his head. “Why would it get colder if it’s called global ‘warming’. That doesn’t make any sense at all.” He looked away from the outside world, leaning on the brim of the frame. “That’s not… nevermind, I’ll explain some other time.” Bonnie sighed.

But Balloon Boy wasn’t done with him yet. He hushed his voice as much as he could. “Do you guys know what’s up with Marie?” He asked them. The bunnies looked back at the dining hall. “What’s up? What d’ya mean ‘what’s up’? Nothing’s up. She’s always acting all aloof an’ mysterious like.” Toy Bonnie scoffed. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but find himself agreeing with BB. Something most definitely was up. While he was used to the puppet acting like she had all the secret knowledge in the world in her head, something always seemed to be pressing on her brain. And then, a few days ago, she’d refused to let anyone in the arcade after hours. Except for Vincent of course. The two boys had both been curious enough to go exploring on their own. BB had said she was just curled up in her box, staring at the sides creepily. Toy Bonnie's experience was even more confusing, as she was crying onto Vincent’s shoulder about parents who never existed or something or other.

They both looked at each other with mischievous grins. “Oh no, you’re not interrogating her. She’s just hit a weird rough patch. Maybe some kid got hurt or something. Or she’s got a glitch in her emotion regulators.” Bonnie twisted the two boys back towards the window. “Besides… I’d like to ask her as much as anyone, but no matter how much we’ve asked her she’s just got mad. Like, spooky mad. And Vincent’s just the same. Not even Dawn or Mangle’s been able to prise any information out of either of them.” He sighed. BB’s determination would not waver, however. “Well, we’re gonna figure it out.” He whispered. Toy Bonnie nodded, and they both slinked away towards the vents. 

“Well, Imma go take a nap,” Marie said. She yawned loudly. “If you hear music, don’t bother me.” Her light-hearted tone took a nosedive. She rubbed her head angrily. Keeping up this friendly good mom charade was hard work. She floated wearily to her domain. “Just in case…” She whispered, locking the doors behind her. She stood there for a moment, before shifting the mask from her face. Just like that, the old puppet fell with a small thud to the floor. She looked into its ceaseless grin. “If only I could stay happy all the time like you do.” She said softly before propping it up with the crossbeam on the ceiling. She waved her hand and after a quick buzz of electricity, the music box began to play. “Tick-tock Marie.” She reached into the box and drew out a notepad of scribbles and chicken scratch.

“What else…” She scrawled down notes here, things she’d learned about her killer over the last few months. “Well… he’s not into firearms at least. I can write that down.” She wrote it down. Meanwhile, from in the vents, a scrabbling sound was heard, two boys arguing, before BB and Toy Bonnie came tumbling out. “What the shit?!” Marie whipped her head round to see them, rubbing their knees. They looked up. “What the… how in the hell did you get in here lady? The place is closed! Right, Marie?” Toy Bonnie looked expectantly at the empty puppet frame. He strained his eyes to see the girl in the dark. She was tall and gangly, like a scarecrow. Her heeled boots only made this worse. She had fishnet tights and ripped shorts on, as well as a striped shirt and hoodie. A typical teen of ten years ago. Her hair had been shaved down one side and the other was choppy and angry looking. The chain connecting her earring and nose ring glinted faintly, along with her many other piercings and a small star tattoo poked out by her collarbone.

“Would you two dicks leave me alone for once?” She groaned. It was at that they recognized her voice. They also noticed that her eyes were pitch black and grey tear bars streamed from them constantly. And she was paler than the snow, glowing. She looked down at herself. “Ah, shit…” She sighed. “Alright, both of you better keep your traps shut about this. Snitches get stitches, understand?” She produced a similarly glowing baseball bat covered in barbed wire. The two animatronics gulped. “Uh… that don’t look like stitches. That looks like hospital.” Toy Bonnie whimpered. BB sniffled. “Please don’t smash us to bits Marie! We won’t tell! Honest!” He hid behind the rabbit, much to his annoyance. The bat evaporated. “Good.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” BB asked, sat neatly on the carpet as Marie played with an ancient looking puppet doll. “It just didn’t feel right.” She said, pushing the dolls face up with her thumb. “But you told Vincent. Why only tell him? Why not the other guards? It can’t just be because you wanted to help solve the murders.” He looked at the doll in Marie’s hand. He had seen it before, but it had baffled him since the stopped making dolls in favour of plushies. “To get a better sense of normality. He and I were friends before all this crap went down. I could pretend like nothing ever happened, and one of the few people who ever gave a crap about me could get some closure.”

“Guys?” Bonnie called into the vent shaft. “You go in there? What did Marie tell you?” He let the door slam back down. “Stupid kids.” He sat at Freddy and Chica’s table. “Marie hasn’t come back out. Maybe they just went to snoop on Mangle and Vincent?” Freddy reassured him, looking back to the main doors. Toy Freddy snickered to himself. “I hope you’re not picturing any canoodling.” Freddy looked at him with an exasperated glare. “Hey, Toychi’s still there, I wasn’t picturing anything.” Toy Freddy threw up his hands defensively. Bonnie, Mike, and Amy started to laugh. Chica buried her head in her hands. “This is going to be the only thing we’re going to talk about for months now, isn’t it? Canoodling.” She said, not looking up again.

It had been an hour. Toy Chica came back from parts and services at last. “Well?” Freddy asked her. She shrugged. “We’re chill. Mangle’s cool with it. I think Vincent still needs to talk it over with Foxy so that he won’t kill him on sight, but I think we’re cool too.” She brushed some of her fringe from her eyes. Chica smiled at her. “Well done.” She said softly. Toychi stuck her tongue out playfully. “So, not to be rude or intrusive but…” She began, giving her cousin a sly wink. The others huddled around, eager for any kind of gossip. Toychi only returned the gesture and walked off towards backstage.

Everyone groaned. “Well, guess we’ll never know. No canoodling thus far.” Freddy chuckled. “Though I highly doubt either of them would do anything like that anyway. Given my own knowledge of myself, I don’t think Mangle’s… indeed.” He looked back to the hall Toychi had slunk out of. “You would think,” Mike replied. Amy smiled, “but isn’t it just adorable? It’s like she was made for him.” She sighed dreamily. Mike looked at his girlfriend, unimpressed. “You mean they’re both total anxious wrecks? Or that they have tragic backstories?” He joked, playfully elbowing her in the ribs. “Ow… wait, what? Since when does he have a tragic backstory? I mean, you said they used to mess mangle up for fun and stuff but…” The animatronics looked nervously to the hall, to Amy and to each other.

“Well, we don’t really like to talk about it. We lost a great number of friends that day.” Chica said. “The incident called the ‘Bite of ‘87’’ is kinda famous. But a lot of people don’t really understand the magnitude of that day. The effect it had… and poor little Michael…” She trailed off, looking sadly at the stage. The others shifted their gaze to the floor. “See, ten years ago, this place was called ‘Fredbear’s Family Diner’. And it was named after Fredbear, like how Freddy coined the name now.” Mike picked up the discussion, “Back then, there were a bunch of techies under Henry’s apprenticeship when he ran things. And the best of the best was this younger guy called William Afton. He was the one who figured out how to make these guys… be alive I guess. But instead of selling the details and sitting pretty he worked on the Toys, and his own robots.”

“Ok, but what’s this got to do with the bite?” Amy asked, puzzled. Mike raised an eyebrow. “Hey, it’s important stuff, I’ll get to the bad part in a minute. See, when Will worked on these bots, the older ones got put on stage more often to compensate. So Fredbear and Spring Bonnie would entertain the kids while he worked on making these guys come to life. And he let his kids here while he was working. The older one, Finn, he would mess around here with his friends. And the younger one just had the one friend here in the summer. I think he was homeschooled by his dad. Anyway, this kid’s birthday rolls around and he’s not happy because the bots super freak him out. So his brother and his buddies think it’d be funny to stick his head right up to Fred’s. Only the brother slipped and Lil’ Michael ends up getting his head basically crushed by a huge pair of bear jaws.”

“People are screaming, calling 911, the normal disaster stuff. The old guard Scott was off duty, but he was visiting for a while and started ushering folks out to try and stop the panic. Vincent was right there though, and he was too late to stop those kids. I think he blames himself. He told me about it a while ago. Not great. Will ended up taking suicide over it. All because Vincent didn’t stop a tiny kiddie fight. Why do you think the policy on kids bullying each other is so uptight? So that never happens again.” Amy looked glassy-eyed. The others all shared her expression. Chica hadn’t taken her eyes off the stage, however. “Poor Fredbear. That’s why Goldie came to be; at least that’s what we assume. A way of keeping him around without… keeping him around. He was scrapped fairly quickly. It broke Spring’s heart.”

“That’s… kinda heavy.” Amy said. She thought she understood everyone a bit more now. Freddy clapped his hands together suddenly. “Well, there’s no use moping about the past, is there? Although I can’t shake the feeling that that event and the murders are connected somehow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was something.  
> Sorry for being inconsistent with the whole 'I'm back! Wait, no I'm not.' think. Exams man. But good news! It's all over after the next two weeks! I can make good on my promise!  
> I also procrastinated a while, coming up with little scenarios to get back into the swing of things in the Sims 3. If anyone still plays it, I'm uploading the Fazbear's lot for folks to mess with if they want. I may release the sims I made to go with it.  
> To download that sweet time-consuming creation, here you go!  
> https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9219949  
> I'll figure links out someday, I swear.

**Author's Note:**

> Still here?
> 
> I have a tumblr for this. In case anyone needed to ask things.
> 
> https://therearemorethanfivenights.tumblr.com/


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